BARRIO  LIFE 
AND  BARRIO 
EDUCATION 

OS  IAS 


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BARRIO  LIFE 

AND 

BARRIO  EDUCATION 


BY 
CAMILO  OSIAS 

Assistant  Director  of  Education  for  the  Philippines 

and  Author  of 

"Education    in    the   Philippines   under   the 

Spanish  Regime " ;  "Educational  Methods 

and   Practical   Suggestions"; 

"The  Philippine  Readers," 

etc. 


Yonkers-on-Hudson,  New  York 

WORLD   BOOK  COMPANY 

192  I 


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Copyright,  1921,  by  World  Book  Company 

Copyright  in  Great  Britain 

All  rights  reserved 


PREFACE 

It  is  a  matter  of  history  that  the  first  bill  presented 
and  approved  at  the  first  session  of  the  Philippine 
Assembly  had  to  do  with  barrio  school  education  (1907). 
More  recently,  the  enactment  of  the  law  appropriating 
thirty  million  pesos  for  educational  extension  further 
dignified  the  barrio  school  problem  and  gave  it  in- 
creased importance  (1918).  The  extension  program  of 
the  Bureau  of  Education  demands  barrio  school  exten- 
sion. The  systematic  development  of  barrio  education 
is  the  most  effective  medium  for  increasing  the  percent- 
age of  literacy  in  the  Philippine  Islands.  It  is  also  an 
effectual  means  of  strengthening  Filipino  citizenship. 

In  a  country  like  the  Philippines,  where  life  is  essen- 
tially rural,  the  position  of  the  barrio  teacher  is  one 
of  great  responsibility  and  importance.  As  I  have 
myself  lived  in  the  midst  of  barrio  environment  and 
have  had  a  great  deal  to  do  with  the  supervision  of 
barrio  schools,  the  barrio  teacher  has  often  been  in  my 
thoughts  as  a  citizen  and  as  a  public  servant.  Not 
infrequently  is  he  isolated,  dependent  almost  entirely 
upon  his  measure  of  common  sense  and  initiative  for 
the  solution  of  the  many  and  varied  problems  that 
present  themselves  to  him.  The  supervisor,  either  be- 
cause of  the  inadequacy  of  transportation  or  means  of 
communication,  or  because  the  district  under  his 
supervision  is  too  large,  has  not  been  able  to  give  the 
amount  of  supervision  which  he  knows  full  well  the 
barrio  school  teacher  sorely  needs.  It  is  with  the  idea 
of  furnishing  a  companion  volume  for  the  teacher  and 
for  the  supervising  teacher  in  the  Philippine  school 
system  that  the  present  work  has  been  undertaken. 

iii 

.434 


iv  PREFACE 

Administrators,  supervisors,  and  teachers  can  look 
into  the  future  of  barrio  life  and  barrio  education  with 
optimism.  There  is  real  encouragement  in  the  achieve- 
ments in  general  education  already  attained.  There  is 
further  encouragement  in  the  knowledge  that  the  school 
children  of  today  have  been  instrumental  in  the  produc- 
tion of  superior  gardening  and  agricultural  products. 
There  have  been  shown  at  garden  exhibits,  for  example, 
upos  1.93  meters  long,  sitao  beans  1.03  meters  long, 
eggplants  .67  meter  in  circumference,  and  some  toma- 
toes weighing  20  ounces  each.  And  surely  it  is  inspir- 
ing to  know  that  distributed  all  over  the  Philippines 
today  there  are  some  5000  school  gardens  and  over 
100,000  home  gardens,  and  that  the  yearly  agricultural 
production  of  the  school  children  amounts  to  more 
than  a  million  pesos. 

I  deem  it  the  duty  of  barrio  school  education  to 
enrich  and  vitalize  barrio  life.  If  the  present  work, 
a  pioneer  in  this  field,  helps  bring  this  desirable  result, 
its  appearance  will  have  been  justified. 

I  wish  to  express  my  gratitude  for  the  permission 
given  me  to  use  such  parts  as  have  heretofore  appeared 
in  periodicals  in  the  form  of  articles.  I  wish  also  to 
record  my  indebtedness  to  the  teachers  and  super- 
visory ofiicers  who  looked  over  the  manuscript  and 
offered  suggestions  and  criticisms. 

Camilo  Osias 

Manila,  1921 


CONTENTS 

PAGE 

Preface iii 

CHAPTER 

I.  Some  Barrio  School  Problems 1 

Philippine  Life  Essentially  Rural 1 

Importance  of  Barrio  School  Problem 2 

Stability    of    Philippine    Democracy    Dependent 

upon  "Average'*  People 5 

Occupations  in  Barrios 5 

The  General  Barrio  School  Problem 7 

Other  Special  Problems 8 

Sources  of  Quotations  and  References 9 

General  Bibliography 9 

II.  The  Improvement  of  Barrio  Schools 10 

Recent  Progress 10 

Room  for  Improvement 11 

Suggested  Improvements 12 

Sources  of  Quotations  and  References 24 

General  Bibliography 25 

III.  Education  for  the  Barrio  Child 26 

The  Barrio  Child's  Rights 27 

Economic  Standards  of  Living 28 

Educational  Demands  upon  the  Barrio  Child 33 

Creeds  Proposed 36 

The  Barrio  Boy's  Creed 37 

The  Barrio  Girl's  Creed 38 

Sources  of  Quotations  and  References 39 

General  Bibliography 39 

IV.  The  Barrio  Teacher  and  the  Barrio  School.  .  40 

A  Glimpse  of  Barrio  Conditions 40 

The  Barrio  and  Its  Institution  for  Uplift 42 

The  Place  of  the  Barrio  Teacher 42 

The  Barrio  Teacher's  Function 43 

Teacher's  Qualifications  Demanded 43 

V 


vi  CONTENTS 

CHAPTEB  VM3Z 

Shortcomings 44 

Municipal  Teachers'  Attainments 45 

Municipal  Teachers'  Salaries 46 

Service   of   Barrio   Teacher   and   School   to   the 

Community 48 

Community  Service  to  the  School 52 

Four  Propositions 52 

A  Teacher's  Creed 55 

Sources  of  Quotations  and  References 56 

General  Bibliography 56 

V.  The  Barrio  School  Curriculum 58 

Curriculum  Defined 58 

Controlling  Factors 59 

The  Philippine  Elementary  Curriculum 60 

Primary  Course 61 

General  Intermediate  Course 62 

Farming  Course 62 

Housekeeping  and  Household  Arts  Course 63 

Ours  a  Living  Curriculum 63 

Evolution  of  Our  Curriculum 64 

The  Barrio  Curriculum  and  Barrio  Life 67 

The  Subjects  and  Some  Guiding  Principles 68 

Hygiene  and  Sanitation 70 

Athletics 71 

Industrial  Work 72 

Sources  of  Quotations  and  References 75 

General  Bibliography 75 

VI.  Vocational  Education 77 

Social  Value  of  Vocational  Education 78 

Barrio  School  Work,  Vocational  and  Prevocational  79 

Vocational  Guidance 79 

Vocational  Provisions 82 

Some  Reasons  for  Industrial  Activities 85 

Main  Objects 87 

Sources  of  Quotations  and  References 87 

General  Bibliography 87 


CONTENTS  vu 

CHAPTEB  PAQB 

VII.  Achievements  of  a  Practical  Character.  . .  88 

Sites  and  Buildings 88 

Physical  Welfare 91 

Industrial  Activities 92 

Social  Aspects 99 

Thrift 102 

Sources  of  Quotations  and  References 103 

General  Bibliography 103 

VIII.  Some  Problems  of  Organization,  Adminis- 
tration, AND  Supervision 104 

Distribution  of  Schools 105 

Pyramidal  Organization 106 

Overcrowded  Classes  and  Split  Sessions 107 

Disadvantages  of  Split  Sessions 108 

Promotion,    Retardation,    Elimination,    and   Ac- 
celeration    110 

A  Few  Administrative  and  Supervisory  Problems .  .  Ill 

Sources  of  Quotations  and  References 113 

General  Bibliography 113 

IX.  Standardizing  Barrio  Schools 114 

Ends  Sought  in  Standardizing 114 

Some  Precedents  in  Standardizing 115 

Philippine  Experience 118 

Form  for  Inspection  and  Supervision 119 

Proposed  Requirements  for  Standardizing  Barrio 

Schools 122 

Tentative  Form  for  Standardizing  Barrio  Schools .  .  124 

Sources  of  Quotations  and  References 128 

General  Bibliography 128 

X.  Vitalizing  Agencies  of  Barrio  Life 129 

Denmark's  Example:  An  Inspiration 129 

Vitalized  Schools 130 

Gardening 131 

Agricultural  Clubs 131 

Fruit  Trees  and  Nurseries 132 


viii  CONTENTS 

CHAPTEB  PAGE 

Food-production  Campaign 134 

Special  Days 135 

Civico-educational  Lectures 136 

Social  and  Literary  Activities 137 

Libraries  and  Reading  Circles 138 

Adult  Schools 138 

Decoration  and  Art 139 

Conclusion  and  Appeal 139 

Sources  of  Quotations  and  References 141 

General  Bibliography 141 

Appendixes 143 

A.  Legislative  Act  for  Extension  of   Free  Ele- 

mental Instruction  to  All  Children  of  School 

Age 143 

B.  Extracts  from  New  Land  Law  Relative  to 

Securing  of  Homesteads 145 

C.  Saving  and  Investing 149 

D.  Agricultural  Education  Bill 164 

E.  Barrio  School  Sanitation 170 

Index 173 


ILLUSTRATIONS 

A  cx)ncrete  one-room  barrio  school  building Frontispiece 

OPPOSITE  PAGE 

A  temporary  barrio  school  building 28 

School  garden  at  Lingsat,  barrio  of  San  Fernando,  Union ...       28 

A  permanent  barrio  school  building 92 

A  barrio  schoolhouse  built  from  voluntary  contributions  of 

barrio  people 92 


A  typical  barrio  school  garden 132 

^^,^-Alboy  with  his  poultry  project 132 


BARRIO  LIFE  AND  BARRIO 
EDUCATION 

CHAPTER  ONE 

Some  Barrio  School  Problems 

"No  rural  population  has  yet  been  able  permanently 
to  maintain  itself  against  the  lure  of  the  town  or  the 
city.  Each  civilization  at  one  stage  of  its  develop- 
ment comprises  a  large  proportion  of  rural  people. 
But  the  urban  movement  soon  begins,  and  continues 
until  all  are  living  in  villages,  towns,  and  cities.  Such 
has  been  the  movement  of  population  in  all  the  older 
countries  of  high  industrial  development,  as  England, 
France,  and  Germany.  A  similar  movement  is  at 
present  going  on  rapidly  in  the  United  States."  (l) 

PHILIPPINE   LIFE    ESSENTIALLY   RUKAL 

Outside  of  the  City  of  Manila  and  perhaps  Cebu, 
Iloilo,  and  a  few  other  large  centers  of  population, 
life  in  the  Philippine  Islands  is  essentially  rural.  At 
the  time  of  the  publication  of  the  1903  Census  of  the 
Philippine  Islands,  there  were  in  the  Islands  about 
13,400  barrios,  which  may  be  regarded  as  the  equiva- 
lent of  villages.^     "In   estimating  this  number,  those 

1  According  to  the  Census  of  1918  there  were  in  that  year  16,296  barrios, 
distributed  among  the  different  provinces  as  follows: 


Abra,  159 

Bukidnon,  144 

Cotabato,  218 

Agusan,  101 

Bulacan,  371 

Davao,  236 

Aibay,  486 

Cagayan,  493 

IIocos  Norte,  361 

Antique,  321 

Camarines  Norte,  132 

Ilocos  Sur,  441 

Bataan,  43 

Camarines  Sur,  426 

Iloilo,  1310 

Batanes,  19 

Capiz,  510 

Isabela,  249 

Batangas,  552 

Cavite,  171 

Laguna,  581 

BohoU  460 

Cebu.  880 

Lanao,  283 

2  BAREIO  LIFE  AND  BARRIO  EDUCATION 

barrios  which  are  closely  adjacent  to  one  another  so 
that  several  of  them  form  practically  one  village  or 
town  are  added  together;  thus  the  23  barrios  of  Cebu 
which  are  urban  and  are  close  together  have  been 
counted  collectively  as  the  City  of  Cebu.  In  a  number 
of  cases  the  poblacion  consists  of  a  number  of  adja- 
cent urban  barrios,  and  these  have  been  added  to- 
gether to  form  the  village  or  town,  to  which  is  given 
the  name  of  the  municipality."  (2) 

In  1903  nearly  one  third  of  all  the  13,400  barrios  of 
the  archipelago  contained  less  than  200  inhabitants 
each,  and  about  three  fifths  contained  less  than  400 
each.  The  barrios  of  less  than  600  inhabitants  each 
formed  nearly  three  fourths  of  all  the  barrios  of  the 
Philippines.  Almost  one  fourth  of  the  population  was 
found  in  barrios  of  less  than  400  inhabitants  each, 
and  about  three  fifths  in  barrios  of  less  than  1000 
inhabitants  each.  Only  4  per  cent  of  all  the  popula- 
tion was  found  in  towns  of  more  than  5000  inhabi- 
tants each,  and  between  10  and  11  per  cent  in  towns 
of  more  than  3000  inhabitants  each.  There  were  but 
four  towns  in  the  Islands  which  exceeded  10,000  in- 
habitants each  and  35  which  exceeded  5000.  The 
average  size  of  the  barrio  in  different  provinces  varied 
greatly.  In  1903  the  smallest  average  village  was 
found  in  the  comandancia  of  Dapitan,  with  229  in- 
habitants. (3) 

Leyte,  969  Palawan,  132  Surigao,  146 

Mindoro,  108  Parapanga,  410  Tarlac,  262 

Misarais,  186  Pangasinan,  809  Tayabas,  763 

Mt.  Province,  563  Rizal,  203  Union,  354 

Nueva  Ecija,  223  Romblon,  138  Zambales,  113 

Nueva  Vizcaya,  153  Samar,  522  Zamboanga,  43 

Occidental  Negros,  442  Sorsogon,  384 

Oriental  Negros,  327  Sulu,  99 


SOME   BARRIO   SCHOOL   PROBLEMS  3 

IMPORTANCE  OF  BARRIO   SCHOOL   PROBLEM 

In  the  United  States,  Betts  states  that  "in  the 
rural  school  is  found  the  most  important  and  puzzling 
educational  problem  of  the  present  day."  In  the 
Philippine  Islands  the  movement  toward  urban  cen- 
ters has  not  as  yet  gone  very  far,  and  this  is  the  oppor- 
tune time  to  discuss  the  problems  connected  with  barrio 
life  and  barrio  education  in  order  that  proper  meas- 
ures may  be  taken  to  enrich  and  vitalize  the  life  and 
education  of  the  barrio  population  and  in  order  that 
the  undesirable  urbanization  of  our  barrio  communities 
may  be  partly  checked,  or  at  least  retarded. 

In  our  scheme  of  education  the  barrio  communities 
have  received  their  share  of  attention.  Even  the  more 
backward  tribes  were  not  wholly  neglected,  as  is 
proved  by  the  presence  of  settlement  farm  schools  and 
other  schools  among  the  Negritos,  Mangyans,  Moros, 
and  other  less  advanced  inhabitants.  The  Filipino 
people  have  given  proofs  of  their  sense  of  the  impor- 
tance of  the  barrio  school  problem.  The  first  Philip- 
pine Assembly  consisting  entirely  of  Filipinos  approved 
for  its  first  bill  one  that  aided  the  construction  of 
schools  in  barrio  communities.  That  historic  docu- 
ment is  embodied  in  Act  No.  1801,  which  is  as  follows: 

No.  1801.  An  Act  providing  for  an  appropriation  of 
one  million  pesos  for  the  construction  of  schools  in  the 
barrios  under  certain  conditions. 

By  authority  of  the  United  States,  be  it  enacted  by 
the  Philippine  Legislature  that : 

Section  1.  There  is  hereby  appropriated,  out  of  any 
funds  in  the  Insular  Treasury  not  otherwise  appropriated, 
for  the  construction  of  schoolhouses  of  strong  materials 
in  the  barrios,  the  sum  of  one  million  pesos,  from  which 


4  BARRIO  LIFE  AND  BARRIO  EDUCATION 

there  shall  be  available  for  expenditure  on  the  first  day 
of  January,  nineteen  hundred  and  eight,  the  sum  of  two 
hundred  and  fifty  thousand  pesos,  and  an  additional  two 
hundred  and  fifty  thousand  pesos  shall  likewise  be  avail- 
able for  expenditure  on  the  first  day  of  January  of  each 
of  the  three  years  immediately  follow  ing  thereafter,  under 
the  following  conditions : 

(a)  All  barrios  belonging  to  a  municipality  that  shall 
guarantee  a  daily  attendance  in  their  school  of  not  less 
than  sixty  pupils,  duly  certified  to  by  the  Division  Super- 
intendent of  Schools  and  by  the  supervising  teacher  of  the 
schools  of  the  municipality,  shall  have  the  right  or  option 
to  participate  in  the  funds  appropriated  by  this  Act  for 
the  purpose  indicated:  provided,  however.  That  the  sum 
shall  not  exceed  in  each  case  four  thousand  pesos. 

(b)  The  municipality,  either  by  making  an  appropri- 
ation from  its  funds  or  by  means  of  voluntary  contri- 
bution of  funds,  materials,  or  labor,  shall  contribute  a 
sum  not  less  than  fifty  per  centum  of  the  total  amount 
which  may  be  granted  in  accordance  with  this  Act,  and 
shall  forward  the  application  of  the  municipal  council 
through  the  provincial  board  to  the  Secretary  of  Public 
Instruction,  who  shall  have  charge  of,  and  approve  the 
distribution  of,  said  funds. 

(c)  The  buildings  above  mentioned  shall  be  erected 
only  upon  lands  of  the  exclusive  ownership  of  the  mu- 
nicipality, or  which  shall  be  donated  for  such  end:  Pro- 
vided, however,  That  the  title  must  be  in  each  case  regis- 
tered in  the  Court  of  Land  Registration,  but  the  Secretary 
of  Public  Instruction  may  authorize  the  beginning  of  the 
construction  work  upon  the  filing  of  the  application  for 
the  registration  in  the  said  Court  of  Land  Registration: 
And  provided  further.  That  the  drawing  up  of  the  plans 
and  specifications  and  the  execution  of  the  work,  and 
payment  for  the  latter,  shall  be  carried  out  in  accordance 
with  the  laws  and  the  regulations  now  in  force. 

Sec.  2.  All  unexpended  balance,  after  the  completion 
of  any  of  the  works  authorized  by  this  Act,  shall  at  once 
be  covered  into  the  Insular  Treasury  to  the  credit  of  this 


SOME  BARRIO  SCHOOL  PROBLEMS  5 

appropriation  and  shall  not  be  withdrawn  from  it  nor 
expended  except  for  the  purpose  herein  indicated. 

Sec.  3.    This  Act  shall  take  effect  on  its  passage. 

(Enacted,  December  20,  1907.) 

The  Act  above  quoted  was  amended  by  Act  No. 
1914  and  again  by  Act  1974.  On  February  2,  1911, 
Act  No.  2029  was  enacted,  appropriating  the  sum  of 
one  million  pesos  for  the  construction  of  school  build- 
ings in  the  municipalities  and  barrios  of  the  Philippine 
Islands  under  the  same  conditions  as  those  prescribed 
in  Act  No.  1801,  with  the  exception  that  provisions 
were  made  for  a  maximum  allotment  of  F5000  for  a 
single  project  and  for  a  guaranteed  attendance  of  40 
pupils. 

STABILITY   OF   PHILIPPINE   DEMOCRACY  DEPENDENT   UPON 
"average"    PEOPLE 

The  passage  of  the  Acts  above  mentioned  plus  the 
constant  recognition  of  the  importance  of  barrio  school 
education  are  proofs  positive  that  the  leaders  who  have 
to  do  with  the  future  of  this  country  are  aware  that 
the  stability  of  democracy  here  in  these  Islands  de- 
pends in  a  great  measure,  upon  the  character  and 
intelligence  of  the  average  people.  The  people  who 
live  in  the  modest  homes  of  bamboo  and  nipa,  the 
sober  and  industrious  dwellers  in  more  or  less  rural 
communities  who  compose  the  greater  part  of  the 
Philippine  population,  those  of  the  middle  class,  intel- 
ligent, happy,  and  prosperous,  constitute  the  genuine 
strength  of  the  Filipino  people. 

OCCUPATIONS   IN   BARRIOS 

The  people  living  in  the  barrios  are  engaged  in 
various  occupations.    Some  attend  to  household  indus- 


6  BARRIO  LIFE  AND  BARRIO  EDUCATION 

tries;  some  busy  themselves  with  poultry  or  raising 
other  domestic  animals;  and  others  devote  part  of 
their  time  to  fishing,  trading,  etc.  The  one  occupation 
that  is  well-nigh  universal,  however,  is  agriculture. 

In  1903  ^  there  were  in  the  Philippine  Islands  815,453 
farms  covering  an  area  of  2,827,704  hectares,  of  which 
1,298,845  hectares  were  cultivated  and  1,528,859  were 
uncultivated.  These  815,453  farms  and  other  parcels 
of  land  used  for  agriculture,  classified  by  tenure  and 
color  of  occupants,  were  distributed  as  follows:  778 
to  the  white  population,  308  to  the  mixed  population, 
813,382  to  the  brown  population,  959  to  the  yellow 
population,  while  26  farms  were  unknown.  Classified 
by  size  and  tenure,  658,543  of  these  same  farms  and 
other  parcels  of  land  used  for  agriculture  belonged  to 
owners,  14,403  to  cash  tenants,  132,444  to  share  ten- 
ants, 1233  to  labor  tenants,  and  8830  were  without 
rental.  (4) 

It  is  thus  quite  apparent  that  it  is  necessary  to  give 
barrio  school  education  an  economic  character  in  addi- 
tion to  the  traditional  features  of  school  work,  so  that 
it  may  be  adjusted  to  the  social  and  industrial  condi- 
tions of  the  people  living  in  barrio  communities.    This 

.*  Comparing  the  total  number  of  farms  in  1918  with  that  given  in  the 
Census  of  1903,  it  appears  that  1,955,276  farms  were  enumerated  in  1918, 
while  only  815,453  farms  were  registered  in  1903.  As  regards  the  area 
undt  r  cultivation,  the  statistics  of  191S  show  2,4K  778  hectares,  as  against 
1,298,845  in  the  Census  of  19o3. 

The  averag*^  area  of  farms  in  1918  was  2.34  hectares  as  against  3.47 
hectares  in  1903,  which  shows  that  in  1918  there  was  a  greater  division  of 
property. 

Out  of  the  1,955,276  farms,  1,946,579  were  owned  by  Filipinos,  2678  by 
Americans,  950  by  Europeans,  1612  by  Asiatics,  and  3457  by  other  nationali- 
ties. In  the  Census  of  1918,  any  piece  of  land  not  less  than  200  square 
meters  devoted  to  agriculture  is  considered  as  a  "farm,"  while  in  the  Census 
of  1903  any  agricultural  holding  regardless  of  size  was  considered  as  a 
"farm."    1918  Census,  Vol.  I,  p.  45. 


SOME  BARRIO  SCHOOL  PROBLEMS  7 

is  one  of  the  great  problems  of  barrio  school  instruc- 
tion —  to  educate  the  children  for  the  farm  and  barrio 
life  rather  than  away  from  the  farm  and  barrio  life. 

THE   GENERAL   BARRIO   SCHOOL   PROBLEM 

The  barrio  school  has  the  same  general  problem 
that  is  common  to  every  school;  namely,  to  assist  in 
the  general  uplift  of  the  individual  and  of  society  in 
order  that  the  citizens  individually  and  collectively 
may  secure  the  highest  and  fullest  measure  of  freedom, 
happiness,  and  efficiency  possible.  Barrio  school  edu- 
cation, like  every  other  school  education,  must  aim 
"to  preserve,  improve,  and  transmit  the  resources  of 
society  —  to  develop  in  each  individual  general  and 
specific  social  efficiency."  ''General  social  efficiency 
means  social  intelligence  and  the  power  to  deal  effec- 
tively with  social  problems.  Specific  social  efficiency 
means  vocational  efficiency  —  efficiency  in  a  particu- 
lar calling."  (5) 

Barrio  school  education  should  train  for  freedom, 
making  out  of  every  pupil,  if  possible,  an  emancipated 
being  and  thus  rendering  him  truly  free  —  physically, 
morally,  intellectually,  and  economically.  An  individ- 
ual physically  weak  is  not  truly  free.  A  person  who 
is  a  moral  wreck  is  a  slave.  An  ignorant  citizen  is  not 
intellectually  free,  nor  is  one  dependent  for  his  sup- 
port economically  free.  Education  that  is  adequate 
strives  to  give  this  threefold  freedom,  moral,  intellec- 
tual, and  physical. 

Barrio  school  education  must  strive  to  instill  happi- 
ness in  the  men  and  women  who  are  products  of  the 
barrio  schools.  They  should  be  appreciative  of  the 
best   interests  —  social,   civic,   aesthetic,   etc.     Tastes 


8  BARRIO  LIFE  AND  BARRIO  EDUCATION 

and  attitudes  should  be  developed  in  order  that  the 
better  nature  of  every  citizen  may  be  developed. 

Barrio  school  education  will  seek  to  develop  indi- 
vidual and  social  efficiency.  From  the  barrio  school 
will  come  men  and  women  who  are  intelligent,  seK- 
supporting,  and  useful.  Educated  citizens  should  not 
only  know,  but  should  be  able  to  earn  their  means  of 
livelihood.  More  important  than  earning  one's  liveli- 
hood, however,  is  living  a  good  life. 

OTHER  SPECIAL   PROBLEMS 

The  general  barrio  school  problem  has  been  briefly 
discussed.  Many  special  problems  connected  with 
barrio  life  and  barrio  education  present  themselves. 
The  barrio  school  has  not  only  the  problem  common 
to  all  schools  but  also  problems  which  are  special, 
making  it  different  from  other  types  of  schools.  These 
special  problems  are  conditioned  by  the  needs,  inter- 
ests, aspirations,  and  ideals  of  the  individuals  and  the 
community  that  support  the  school.  In  many  respects, 
therefore,  the  barrio  school  must  be  somewhat  differ- 
ent from  the  town  or  city  school.  "In  its  organiza- 
tion, its  curriculum,  and  its  spirit  it  must  be  adapted 
to  the  requirements  of  the  rural  community.  For, 
while  many  pupils  from  the  rural  schools  ultimately 
follow  other  occupations  than  farming,  yet  the  pri- 
mary function  of  the  rural  school  is  to  educate  for  the 
life  of  the  farm."  (6) 

Some  of  the  problems  connected  with  barrio  life 
and  barrio  education  may  be  enumerated  as  follows: 

Improvement  of  Barrio  Schools 

Education  for  the  Barrio  Child 

The  Barrio  Teacher  and  the  Barrio  School 


SOME  BARRIO  SCHOOL  PROBLEMS  9 

Barrio  School  Curriculum 

Vocational  Education 

Achievements  of  Practical  Value 

Problems  of  Organization,  Administration,  and  Su- 
pervision 

Standardizing  Barrio  Schools 

Vitalizing  Agencies  of  Barrio  Life 

Subsequent  discussions  will  deal  directly  and  indi- 
rectly with  these  and  other  problems  related  to -barrio 
life  and  barrio  education. 

Soiirces  of  Quotations  and  References 

Note.  The  numbers  refer  to  the  numbers  in  parentheses  in 
the  body  of  the  text. 

(1)  Betts,  G.  H.    New  Ideals  in  Rural  Schools,  p.  ix. 

(2)  Philippine  Census,  Vol.  II,  p.  35. 

(3)  Philippine  Census,  Vol.  II,  pp.  36,  38. 

(4)  Philippine  Census,  Vol.  IV,  Tables  1,  3,  4,  and  5,  pp.  250-279. 

(5)  Hanus,  Paul.    School  Efficiency. 

(6)  Betts,  G.  H.    New  Ideals  in  Rural  Schools,  pp.  5-6. 

General  Bibliography 

1.  Le  Roy,  James.    Philippine  Life  in  Town  and  Country. 

2.  Philippine  Census,  1903. 

3.  Kern,  O.  J.    Among  Country  Schools. 

4.  Betts,  G.  H.     New  Ideals  in  Rural  Schools. 

5.  Betts,  G.  H.,  and  Hall,  O.  E.     Better  Rural  Schools. 

6.  CuBBERLEY,  E.  P.    Rural  Life  and  Education. 

7.  The  Improvement  of  Rural  Schools. 

8.  Reports  of  the  Commissioner  of  Education. 

9.  Monroe,  Paul.     Cyclopedia  of  Education. 


CHAPTER  TWO 

The  Improvement  of  Barrio  Schools 

Barrio  education  antedates  the  formal  establishment 
of  public  barrio  schools.  Throughout  the  period  of 
Philippine  history,  the  Filipino  people  have  shown  a 
praiseworthy  interest  in  education.  Either  under  the 
immediate  tutorship  of  parents  or  under  the  charge 
of  private  teachers  the  elementary  instruction  of  Fili- 
pino  children  was  undertaken  long  before  the  Royal 
Decree  of  1863,  establishing  a  plan  of  primary  instruc- 
tion in  the  Philippines,  provided  that  "there  shall 
be  in  each  town  ...  at  least  one  school  of  primary 
instruction  for  males  and  another  for  females."  (l) 
Even  in  the  midst  of  poverty  many  native  chil- 
dren were  given  schooling,  not  infrequently  at  the 
sacrifice  of  almost  the  very  necessities  of  life.  It  was 
natural,  therefore,  that  barrio  schools  be  provided  for 
in  the  Act  No.  74  of  the  Philippine  Commission  creat- 
ing the  Bureau  of  Education  and  insuring  to  the  people 
a  system  of  free  public  schools  in  the  Philippine 
Islands.  (2) 

RECENT    PROGRESS 

Since  the  establishment  of  the  public  school  system 
under  the  American  administration,  marked  progress 
has  been  made.  In  1898,  at  the  coming  of  the  Ameri- 
cans, there  were  2160  public  primary  schools  in  the 
Islands.  Under  the  present  regime  the  number  of 
public  primary  schools  was  3924  for  1913,  3851  for 
1914,  3994  for  1915,  4143  for  1916,  4288  for  1917, 
4276  for  1918,  4412  for  1919,  and  5280  for  1920.  The 
greater  number  of  these  are  barrio  schools.  It  might 
be  added  that  the  number  of  intermediate  schools  was 

10 


THE  IMPROVEMENT  OF  BARRIO  SCHOOLS       11 

278  in  1913,  309  in  1914,  350  in  1915,  351  in  1916,  368 
in  1917,  423  in  1918,  501  in  1919,  and  614  in  1920,  and 
that  the  number  of  secondary  schools  was  44  in  1913, 
41  in  1914,  42  in  1915,  44  in  1916,  46  in  1917,  48  in 
1918,  50  in  1919  and  1920.  The  total  annual  enroll- 
ment in  these  schools  was  606,597  for  1915,  681,588 
for  1919,  and  791,626  for  1920.  (3)  The  greatest  con- 
cern is  the  welfare  of  the  primary  pupils.  The  policy 
of  the  Bureau  of  Education  has  been  to  continue,  and 
if  possible  increase,  the  number  of  primary  schools, 
and  to  "authorize  the  establishment  of  intermediate 
and  secondary  schools  only  where  the  demand  was 
strong  and  the  chances  for  offering  efficient  instruc- 
tion were  good."  (4) 

Another  sign  of  the  popularity  of  the  schools  is 
the  fact  that  annually  the  number  seeking  admittance 
is  greater  than  the  number  which  can  be  accommo- 
dated. The  attitude  of  the  barrio  people  toward  the 
barrio  schools  on  the  whole  has  been  one  of  willing 
cooperation.  In  some  cases  school  sites  have  been 
donated,  or  paid  for  by  the  people  themselves.  Several 
buildings  have  been  constructed  without  cost  to  the 
municipal  treasury  —  materials  and  labor  have  been 
furnished  free.  In  a  few  places  there  are  standard 
buildings  on  standard  school  sites.  The  course  of 
study  for  barrio  schools  is  better  defined  now  than  it 
has  ever  been.  The  teachers  are  now  a  little  better 
prepared,  and  consequently  instruction  has  improved. 

ROOM   FOR   IMPROVEMENT 

In  spite  of  these  and  other  signs  of  progress,  how- 
ever, the  barrio  schools  are  still  nearer  to  zero  than 
one  hundred  per  cent.    There  are  still  too  many  barrio 


12         BARRIO  LIFE  AND  BARRIO  EDUCATION 

children  housed  in  unsuitable  buildings;  too  many 
buildings  without  proper  equipment;  too  many  schools 
without  sites  or  with  inadequate  sites;  too  many 
structures  that  cannot  meet  the  demands  of  modern 
sanitation;  too  many  one-room  schools  that  could 
better  be  managed  if  consolidated;  too  many  over- 
crowded classes  or  classes  not  properly  organized; 
too  much  poor  instruction  or  inadequate  interpre- 
tation of  the  curriculum;  too  wide  scattering  of 
barrio  schools  in  large  districts,  making  supervision 
difficult;  and  too  little  money  to  carry  on  the  work 
efficiently.  Surely  there  is  room,  much  room,  for 
improvement.  What  some  of  these  improvements 
may  be  we  shall  now  proceed  to  consider. 

SUGGESTED    IMPROVEMENTS 

1.  Better  buildings.  At  the  close  of  December,  1915, 
for  the  4386  schools  in  operation  there  were  only  723 
permanent  buildings,  383  semi-permanent  buildings, 
and  955  temporary  buildings.  (5)  Of  the  permanent 
buildings  344  were  of  standard  Bureau  of  Education 
plan.  It  is  very  evident  that  a  large  majority  of  the 
schools  in  the  Islands  are  inadequately  housed.  Vari- 
ous laws,  such  as  Act  No.  1275,  Act  No.  1580,  Act 
No.  1688,  Act  No.  1801,  Act  No.  1914,  Act  No.  1974, 
Act  No.  1954,  Act  No.  1961,  Act  No.  1988,  Act 
No.  1994,  Act  No.  2029,  and  Act  No.  2059,  have 
been  enacted  that  are  favorable  to  schoolhouse  con- 
struction, but  the  funds  made  available  have  been 
insufficient  to  carry  out  any  considerable  part  of  the 
building  program.  (6) 

There  is  need  of  further  legislation  and  greater 
cooperation  to  push  the  building  program.    More  and 


THE  IMPROVEMENT  OF  BARRIO  SCHOOLS       13 

better  buildings  are  imperative.  Permanent  school- 
houses  should  be  preferred.  Speaking  of  substantial 
and  permanent  structures  one  Director  of  Education 
quite  appropriately  said: 

There  is  a  sense  of  permanency  about  them  which  is 
of  particular  value;  typhoons  come  and  go,  and  while 
other  buildings  in  the  vicinity  are  swept  to  the  ground, 
the  schoolhouse  of  such  permanent  material  remains. 
The  effect  upon  pupils  and  people  is  quite  different  in 
cases  where  the  schoolhouse  is  destroyed  by  every  strong 
wind.  Furthermore,  there  is  a  great  deal  of  time  lost 
from  school  work  when  temporary  buildings  are  blown 
down.  It  generally  happens  that  a  great  number  of 
buildings  are  destroyed  in  the  vicinity,  and  that  it  will 
be  impossible  to  secure  at  once  the  labor  to  reconstruct 
the  schoolhouse.  The  loss  of  a  few  months  is  a  serious 
thing  in  the  school  life  of  the  pupil.  It  often  happens 
that,  as  a  temporary  expedient,  school  is  again  started 
in  some  other  building  which  is  generally  entirely  in- 
adequate for  school  purposes.  Furthermore,  in  the 
concrete  building  provision  can  be  made  for  proper  in- 
terior equipment  and  arrangement  and  for  the  protection 
of  school  supplies.  Again,  the  permanent  building  lends 
itself  to  use  as  a  social  center  in  a  way  which  a  temporary 
building  cannot.  The  people  look  to  it  with  a  pride  which 
is  lacking  where  buildings  are  of  poor  temporary  con- 
struction. If  there  were  any  way  of  assigning  a  money 
value  to  such  advantages  as  these,  it  would  be  clearly 
shown  that  the  considerable  sums  spent  in  permanent 
construction  constitute  a  far  better  investment  than  the 
smaller  sums  which  are  repeatedly  invested  in  temporary 
buildings.  (7) 

In  order  to  help  solve  the  problem  of  housing  the 
barrio  schools,  it  would  seem  desirable  (1)  to  carry  out 
the  "unit"  system  of  construction  whereby  additions 
may  be  made  without  injury  to  the  original  structure, 


14         BARRIO  LIFE  AND  BARRIO  EDUCATION 

(2)  to  have  foresight  in  setting  aside  a  definite  sum 
per  year  in  the  municipal  presupuestos,  or  budgets,  for 
building  purposes,  (3)  to  maintain  a  creditable  stand- 
ard for  temporary  buildings,  and  (4)  to  require  the 
provision  of  a  fairly  decent  and  adequate  temporary 
building  before  opening  any  new  barrio  school. 

2.  More  adequate  school  sites.  During  the  school 
year  1915-16,  3994  municipal  primary  public  schools 
were  in  operation.  For  the  same  period  there  were 
2174  sites,  of  which  71  were  provincial  sites,  704  were 
municipal  central  sites,  and  1399  were  municipal  barrio 
sites.  (8)  Of  these  sites  about  one  third  are  standard 
in  size  and  adequate  for  the  school  purposes,  the  stand- 
ard being  one-half  hectare  for  a  rural  school  and 
one  hectare  for  a  central  school.  It  is  deemed  impor- 
tant that  the  school  site  be  ample  "  (1)  to  display  the 
building  properly,  (2)  to  provide  for  additional  build- 
ings to  accommodate  industrial  activities  or  increase 
in  attendance,  (3)  to  provide  for  gardening,  (4)  to 
provide  grounds  for  baseball  and  other  games,  and 
(5)  to  make  possible  the  placing  of  the  building  at  a 
distance  from  other  houses,  thus  allowing  a  free  cir- 
culation of  air,  the  maintenance  of  sanitary  condi- 
tions about  the  schools,  and  freedom  from  noises 
which  may  disturb  school  work."  (9) 

From  the  statistics  just  given,  it  is  obvious  that 
many  schools  are  without  sites  and  that  some  have 
inadequate  sites.  It  is  therefore  necessary  to  put 
forth  an  effort  for  a  period  of  years  to  secure  more 
first-class  sites.  A  first-class  site  is  one  which  (1)  has 
a  minimum  area  of  one-half  hectare  for  every  200 
pupils  of  the  annual  enrollment,  or  fraction  thereof, 
up  to  2  hectares  for  800  pupils  or  more,   (2)  is  well 


THE  IMPROVEMENT  OF  BARRIO  SCHOOLS       15 

located  and  easily  accessible,  (3)  is  well  drained  and 
sanitary,  (4)  allows  the  proper  laying  out  of  athletic 
field  and  playground,  and  (5)  has  soil  suitable  for 
gardening  and  agricultural  activities.  (10) 

It  will  be  of  assistance  in  securing  more  adequate 
school  sites  (1)  if  we  put  forth  effort  to  develop  public 
opinion  favorable  for  acquisition  of  standard  school 
sites  and  the  erection  of  permanent  schoolhouses,  (2)  if 
we  make  it  widely  known  that  nothing  can  be  done  in 
the  way  of  securing  insular  aid  for  permanent  school 
building,  unless  there  is  adequate  school  site,  and 
(3)  if  we  open  no  new  school  unless  there  is  an  ade- 
quate school  site  provided.   (11) 

3.  Better  equipment.  In  barrio  schools  today  hun- 
dreds of  children  sit  on  benches  without  backs  or  at 
desks  not  properly  adjusted.  Some  even  have  to  sit 
on  the  floor.  There  are  classrooms  without  a  table 
or  a  chair  for  the  teacher  or  an  aparador  for  objects, 
materials,  books,  and  suppHes.  Concerted  action  is 
needed  to  secure  suflScient  desks  properly  adjusted  to 
the  size  of  pupils;  to  furnish  each  classroom  with  a 
chair,  a  table,  and  an  aparador;  and  to  have  a  set  of 
the  pictures  prescribed  in  the  bulletin  on  Good  Man- 
ners and  Right  Conduct  framed  in  wood  and  covered 
with  glass.  Bulletin  boards  and  waste  baskets  should 
be  included  in  the  list  of  equipment  to  be  provided. 
In  addition  to  these,  provision  must  be  made  for 
tools  needed  in  gardening  and  school-ground  improve- 
ment, equipment  for  domestic  science,  tools  and  sup- 
plies for  woodworking,  bamboo  and  rattan  furniture, 
or  other  industrial  courses  offered.  While  the  list  is 
by  no  means  complete,  to  have  these  things  alone  will 
do  much  to  improve  our  barrio  schools.  (12) 


16         BARRIO  LIFE  AND  BARRIO  EDUCATION 

4.  Better  sanitation.  It  should  be  needless  to  men- 
tion that  buildings  used  for  school  purposes  ought  to 
be  spacious  and  sanitary.  There  should  be  proper 
lighting  and  ventilation.  At  least  two  sanitary  out- 
houses, one  for  boys  and  another  for  girls,  should  be 
found  in  every  standard  school  site.  Flush  closets  and 
permanent  outhouses  are,  of  course,  the  best.  Where 
it  is  not  possible  to  have  these,  there  must  at  least  be 
semi-permanent  or  temporary  buildings  of  the  "pail" 
or  "pit"  type.  In  several  provinces  very  satisfactory 
movable  temporary  outhouses  have  been  devised.  It 
will  add  to  the  beauty  of  the  grounds  if  these  acces- 
sory buildings  are  screened  with  climbing  vines  or 
judiciously  planted  trees. 

A  sanitary  water  tank  or  jar  with  good,  clean  water, 
preferably  boiled  water,  should  be  found  in  every 
barrio  school.  Sanitary  drinking  cups  or  individual 
cups  should  be  used.  Practical  lessons  in  hygiene  and 
sanitation  are  essential  among  barrio  pupils,  who 
should  take  a  part  in  the  activities  to  clean  and  beau- 
tify the  school  and  premises.  "One  of  the  saddest 
things  I  saw,"  said  Booker  T.  Washington,  "was  a 
young  man  .  .  .  sitting  down  in  a  one-room  cabin, 
with  grease  on  his  clothing,  filth  all  around  him,  and 
weeds  in  the  yard  and  garden,  engaged  in  studying  a 
French  grammar."  (13)  It  would  indeed  be  the 
height  of  folly  to  turn  out  barrio  school  children 
learned  in  book  knowledge  but  ignorant  in  good 
living. 

5.  Consolidation.  Partly  due  to  the  natural  desire 
of  the  people  to  have  a  school  close  to  their  homes, 
a  number  of  one-room  schools  have  been  established. 
For  years  to  come  many  of  these  schools  in  isolated 


THE  IMPROVEMENT  OF  BARRIO  SCHOOLS       17 

hamlets  will  be  a  necessity.  It  is,  nevertheless,  true 
that  much  loss  in  school  efficiency  results  from  the 
existence  of  an  unnecessarily  large  number  of  separate 
little  schools  which  could  well  be  combined  into  larger 
schools  in  more  central  locations.  The  consolidation 
movement,  begun  in  Massachusetts,  after  the  middle 
of  the  nineteenth  century,  has  been  a  great  factor  in 
the  improvement  of  the  American  rural  schools  during 
the  last  two  decades,  especially  in  the  states  of  the 
Middle  West.  History,  it  seems,  repeats  itself  not 
only  from  age  to  age  but  from  country  to  country. 
Now  that  the  barrio  schools  in  the  Philippines  are 
more  or  less  in  the  formative  stage,  it  would  be  the 
part  of  wisdom  for  administrative  and  supervisory 
officers  to  have  an  eye  to  consolidation.  The  idea  of 
consolidation  should  be  borne  in  mind  in  the  estab- 
lishment of  barrio  schools  in  the  future,  especially  in 
fast-growing  communities  or  in  localities  with  poten- 
tial possibilities  of  growth.  The  establishment  of  in- 
termediate schools  or  high  schools,  if,  indeed,  it  is 
not  now  a  problem,  will  surely  become  one  in  the 
future.  Intelligent  foresight  is  necessary  in  the  choice 
of  location  for  barrio  schools,  therefore.  The  consoli- 
dation idea  should  furnish  a  key  to  the  question, 
making  possible  their  future  expansion. 

6.  Organization  and  supervision.  Barrio  schools  of 
two  grades  and  even  of  three  grades  under  one  teacher 
are  not  unknown.  There  are  barrio  schools  where  one 
teacher  has  charge  of  about  100  pupils.  There  are  also 
barrio  schools  with  classes  organized  under  the  "split 
session"  plan.  Under  this  arrangement  a  first  or 
second  grade  class  comes  in  the  morning  from  7 :  30 
to  10:  00  under  one  teacher  and  another  class  of  third 


18        BARRIO  LIFE  AND  BARRIO  EDUCATION 

or  fourth  grade  comes  the  rest  of  the  morning  and  in 
the  afternoon  under  the  same  teacher.  It  is  needless 
to  say  that  under  these  conditions  the  best  work  can- 
not be  done.  Better  organization,  with  the  size  of 
classes  regulated,  is  obviously  necessary.  We  shall 
not  at  this  time  dwell  at  length  on  organization.  We 
merely  wish  to  quote  what  a  California  superintend- 
ent said:  "We  do  not  believe  that  it  is  possible  for  a 
teacher  to  face  forty  different  little  personalities  and 
individualities,  and  assume  the  responsibility  for  their 
mental,  spiritual,  and  physical  development,  and  do 
it  successfully.     It  is  beyond  human  power."  (14) 

Many  of  the  barrio  schools  are  now  so  scattered, 
and  some  of  the  supervising  districts  are  so  large,  that 
effective  supervision  is  difficult,  if  not  well-nigh  im- 
possible. As  a  result  much  of  what  goes  on  in  the 
name  of  supervision  is  nothing  but  inspection.  Better 
organization  and  better  supervision  are  two  among 
the  great  needs  of  barrio  schools.  These  will  be  taken 
up  more  fully  under  the  general  discussion  of  the 
problems  of  organization,  administration,  and  super- 
vision (pages  104-113). 

7.  Better  instruction.  Mention  has  been  made  of 
the  fact  that  the  instruction  in  the  barrio  schools  is 
superior  to  what  it  was  a  few  years  ago.  Nevertheless, 
much  haphazard,  aimless,  and  ineffective  classroom 
instruction  still  goes  on  and  will  go  on  perhaps  for 
several  years  to  come.  Much  as  we  may  be  conscious 
of  the  fact  that  schools  exist  primarily  that  teaching 
may  go  on,  the  best  teaching  can  hardly  be  expected 
with  the  present  poor  buildings  and  sites  in  many  of 
the  barrio  schools,  the  poor  equipment,  the  isolation 
of   some   schools,   the   overcrowded   classes,   the   low 


THE  IMPROVEMENT  OF  BARMO  SCHOOLS       19 

salaries  paid  and  the  consequent  lack  of  thoroughly 
trained  corps  of  teachers.  The  improvement  of  in- 
struction is  vitally  connected  with  the  question  of 
better  teachers,  and  the  securing  of  better  teachers 
is  in  turn  conditioned  largely  by  the  question  of 
better  pay. 

8.  Better  interpretation  of  the  curriculum.  A  sepa- 
rate discussion  is  to  be  devoted  to  the  barrio  school 
curriculum  in  its  various  aspects  (pages  58  to  76); 
but  we  wish  to  touch  here  upon  one  phase  —  that 
which  is  related  or  should  be  related  to  the  soil,  plant 
life,  and  animal  life  which  are  the  chief  sources  of 
wealth  in  the  barrio  and,  for  that  matter,  in  the 
islands. 

The  chief  business  of  the  country  is  farming,  which 
deals  with  these.  The  economic  needs  of  the  countrj^  and 
the  world  must  be  met  by  the  wise  and  intelligent  handling 
of  these.  The  efficiency  of  farming  depends  upon  a 
knowledge  of  them  and  the  way  to  handle  them  most 
intelligently  and  profitably.  Yet  such  has  been  and  is 
now  the  inefficiency  of  rural  education  that  the  farmers 
who  live  closest  to  these  greatest  sources  of  wealth  often 
know  least  about  them  and  get  least  out  of  them.  The 
majority  of  these  farmers  do  not  get  enough  out  of  them 
to  supply  the  bare  necessities  of  the  meagerest  life,  and 
have  nothing  left  to  contribute  to  the  wealth  of  the  com- 
munity or  to  supply  good  schools,  good  churches,  and 
other  necessaries  for  the  intellectual,  social,  and  spiritual 
needs  of  the  community.  Should  not  countr\"  boys  be 
taught  in  country-  schools,  by  teachers  prepared  to  teach 
them,  the  simple  principles  of  the  conservation,  the 
fertilization,  the  tillage,  and  the  drainage  of  soils,  and 
their  practical  application;  a  knowledge  of  plants  and 
plant  life  and  their  adaptation  to  soil  and  environment, 
how  to  grow  them  and  how  to  handle  them  most  profit- 
ably; of  animals,  how  to  feed  them,  how  to  care  for  them, 


20         BARRIO  LIFE  AND  BARRIO  EDUCATION 

how  best  to  utilize  them?  Health,  food,  raiment,  and 
shelter  —  these  are  the  elemental  needs  of  life.  They  are 
more  easily  supplied  in  the  country  than  anywhere  else, 
and  yet,  on  the  whole,  more  poorly  supplied  there.  How 
much  does  the  country  teacher  know  about  either.^  Should 
not  sanitation,  food  selection  and  preparation,  canning, 
sewing,  dressmaking,  millinery,  homemaking,  and  deco- 
ration have  a  place  in  the  preparation  of  the  country 
teacher  and  in  the  curriculum  of  the  country  school  for 
country  girls?  (15) 

The  opportunities  of  barrio  schools  to  serve  the 
agricultural  interests  of  barrio  communities  are  legion. 
Gardening  is  one  of  the  industrial  courses  in  the 
course  of  study.  Garden  days,  fruit-tree  planting. 
Arbor  Days,  agricultural  clubs,  cooking  —  these  are 
among  the  agencies  for  agricultural  betterment.  Barrio 
school  education  will  become  more  efficient  if  it  is 
instrumental  in  enriching  barrio  life.  School  officials 
should  consciously  influence  barrio  communities  to 
utilize  elementary  science  and  intelligent  industry  as 
factors  in  prosperity.  When  this  is  done  effectively, 
the  time  will  not  be  far  distant  when  in  substance 
there  may  be  said  of  the  Philippines  what  one  writer 
said  of  the  United  States  in  the  following  hopeful 
words : 

Immobile  masses  of  men  used  to  die  of  famine  while  a 
few  hundred  miles  away  crops  rotted  on  the  ground  for 
lack  of  transportation.  Famine  no  longer  threatens  a 
country  where  railroads  carry  freight.  United  States 
laboratories  and  food  stations  are  evolving  cereals  and 
condensing  nutriment  in  their  tissues.  Government  ex- 
perts are  studying  food  for  men  and  cattle  on  the  Russian 
steppes  and  in  half -forgotten  oases  of  the  Sahara.  Mr. 
Luther  Burbank  hopes  to  overcome  nature  in  the  deserts 
of  the  West  with  the  science-born  thornless  cactus;    he 


THE  IMPROVEMENT  OF  BARRIO  SCHOOLS      21 

doubles  the  size  of  fruits  and  brings  new  ones  into  being, 
in  a  few  years  outdistancing  the  pace  of  thousands  of 
generations  of  his  ** master"  —  nature.  The  Secretary  of 
Agriculture  recently  declared  that  serious  crop  failures  will 
occur  no  more.  Agriculture  has  become  a  science,  our 
common  foods  grow  in  conquered  habitats,  the  desert  is 
sown,  and  waste  land  is  made  fertile.  Unseasonable  frosts, 
prolonged  droughts  and  rains,  torrid  heat,  insect  pests, 
plant  disease  —  all  these  familiar  menaces  he  believes  will 
soon  cease  to  threaten  the  farmer.  Never  again  will 
widespread  famine,  plagues,  scarcity  prices,  or  commercial 
panics  be  the  result  of  defective  husbandry.  Stable, 
progressive  farming  controls  the  terror,  disorder,  and 
devastation  of  earlier  times.  A  new  agriculture  means  a 
new  civilization.  Physicians  and  sanitarians  tell  us  that 
the  recent  yellow  fever  epidemic  was  the  last  which  shall 
find  foothold  in  the  United  States.  Their  knowledge  of 
its  causes  gives  them  power  to  subdue  it.  To  recall  the 
horror  that  has  accompanied  the  plague  since  history 
began  is  to  foresee  what  a  change  in  social  traditions  and 
industrial  development  this  revolution  alone  will  make. 
The  food,  housing,  and  general  hygiene  of  the  workers  at 
Panama,  for  instance,  can  be  cared  for  so  scientifically 
that  the  canal  will  be  dug  under  conditions  possible  fifty 
years  ago  only  north  of  the  frost  line.  (16) 

9.  More  adequate  funds.  We  come  now  to  the 
most  important  of  the  improvements  proposed; 
namely,  the  provision  of  more  adequate  funds.  This 
is  basic.  Practically  every  other  improvement  here 
suggested  depends  upon  it.  There  must  be  a  very 
material  increase  in  the  funds  available  for  school 
purposes,  and  the  increased  funds  must  be  secured 
from  higher  taxation.  The  doctrine  of  discontent 
must  be  preached  throughout  the  land.  We  must  not 
cheapen  education.  The  people,  however,  ought  to 
be  willing  to  make  the  sacrifice.     More  money  must 


22         BARRIO  LIFE  AND  BARRIO  EDUCATION 

be  forthcoming,  and  it  must  be  expended  in  a  wiser 
and  more  sensible  way.  True  economy  is  not  merely 
reducing  expenses.  Rather  it  means  securing  more 
money  and  utilizing  it  in  a  better  way. 

That  our  funds  for  general  educational  purposes,  and 
particularly  for  barrio  school  purposes,  are  very  in- 
adequate every  educated  citizen  knows.  Many  of  our 
children  are  refused  admission;  many  of  the  teachers 
are  poorly  trained,  and  the  number  employed  is  insuf- 
ficient; buildings  are  inadequate;  more  sites  are  not 
secured;  proper  equipment  is  lacking  —  these  and 
many  other  deficiencies  are  due  to  lack  of  adequate 
funds. 

What  are  now  the  sources  of  revenue  for  the  sup- 
port of  municipal  schools  —  central  and  rural  .^^  In  the 
regularly  organized  provinces  municipal  school  rev- 
enues are  derived  chiefly  from  the  following  sources: 
(1)  A  tax  of  one  fourth  of  1  per  cent  on  the  assessed 
value  of  real  property;  (2)  10  per  cent  of  internal 
revenue  collections  divided  among  the  various  munici- 
palities of  the  Islands  on  the  basis  of  population  as 
shown  by  the  Census  of  1903;  and  (3)  transfers  from 
general  funds  to  school  funds.  The  new  Administra- 
tive Code  provides: 

There  shall  be  maintained  in  the  treasury  of  every 
municipality  a  special  fund  to  be  known  as  the  school  fund, 
into  which  shall  be  paid  all  moneys  accruing  thereto  by 
law  or  by  appropriation  from  the  municipal  general  fund. 
Said  fund  shall  be  available  exclusively  for  the  mainte- 
nance of  public  schools,  including  the  construction, 
purchase,  repair,  and  equipment  of  school  buildings,  the 
purchase  of  land  therefor,  the  payment  of  teachers  and 
incidental  expenses,  and  other  lawful  school  purposes  of 
the  municipality.  (17) 


THE  IMPROVEMENT  OF  BARRIO  SCHOOLS      23 

Regarding  the  division  of  proceeds  between  prov- 
inces and  municipalities,  the  following  provisions 
govern : 

The  proceeds  of  the  real-property  tax  shall  be  applied 
to  the  use  and  benefit  of  the  respective  provinces  and 
municipalities  wherein  the  property  liable  to  such  tax  is 
situated. 

The  share  of  a  province  in  said  tax  shall  be  levied  by 
the  provincial  board  thereof,  whose  duty  it  shall  be,  on 
or  before  the  thirty-first  day  of  December  of  each  year, 
to  fix  by  resolution  an  uniform  rate  of  taxation  for  the 
succeeding  year,  in  an  amount  not  less  than  one  eighth 
nor  more  than  three  eighths  of  one  per  centum. 

The  share  of  a  municipality  shall  in  the  same  manner 
be  levied  by  ordinance  of  the  municipal  council  thereof 
in  an  amount  not  less  than  one  fourth  nor  more  than  one 
half  of  one  per  centum.  (18) 

If  anything  approaching  satisfactory  improvements 
is  to  be  obtained,  there  must  be  a  doubling  of  funds. 
Progressive  citizens  can  render  no  service  more  patriotic 
than  that  of  working  for  additional  taxation  for  pur- 
poses of  educational  extension.  Legislators  possessed 
of  the  qualities  of  statesmanship  will  show  themselves 
real  architects  of  the  nation  by  the  enactment  of  laws 
that  would  increase  the  burdens  and  privileges  of 
taxation  for  education.  Our  present  burden  is  rela- 
tively small.  It  is  said  that  the  contribution  per 
capita  to  the  insular  government  here  in  the  Philip- 
pines is  about  ?4.00.  In  the  United  States  today  the 
government  receives  P66.00  in  taxes  for  every  man, 
woman,  and  child  in  its  population.  In  England  the 
per  capita  tax  is  P120.00.  Measured  in  terms  of  per 
capita  cost  of  educating  a  child,  or  in  terms  of  rates 
of   taxation,   the  Filipino  people  pay   comparatively 


24         BARRIO  LIFE  AND  BARRIO  EDUCATION 

little.  There  is  need  here  of  a  more  widespread  view 
of  taxation,  not  only  as  a  duty  but  as  a  privilege.  A 
people  like  ours,  which  loves  progress,  must  be  willing 
to  pay  the  price. 

It  would  improve  our  educational  situation  greatly 
if  all  municipalities  were  to  raise  their  rate  of  taxation 
to  the  maximum  now  allowed  by  law;  if  the  legisla- 
ture would  enact  a  law  raising  the  rate  of  taxation, 
or  authorizing  municipal  councils  to  make  additional 
levy  for  education;  if  lands  were  assessed  more  equi- 
tably and  justly  for  purposes  of  taxation;  if  the  citi- 
zens cultivated  their  lands  more  nearly  in  accord 
with  scientific  agriculture  so  that  they  might  be  more 
prosperous  and  could  meet  more  easily  their  just 
obligations;  and  if  all  concerned  were  to  labor  for 
more  adequate  financing  and  intelligent  apportion- 
ment and  for  greater  equalization  of  the  burdens  and 
benefits  of  taxation  for  education. 

Sources  of  Quotations  and  References 

(1)  Article  3  of  Decree.    See  full  text  in  Osias,  C.    Education  in 

the  Philippines  under  the  Spanish  Regime,  pp.  105-113. 

(2)  The  School  Law  of  the  Philippine  Islands,  as  amended  by  all 

acts  i  f  the  Philippine  Commission  up  to  and  including 
Act  No.  1530,  together  with  executive  orders  of  the  Gover- 
nor-General and  opinions  of  the  Attorney-General  rendered 
prior  to  or  on  August  6,  1906,  which  affect  the  Bureau  of 
Education. 

(3)  Sixteenth  Annual  Report  of  the  Director  of  Education,  p.  19. 

1919  figure  taken  from  the  Twentieth  Annual  Report  of  the 
Director  of  Education. 

(4)  Sixteenth  Annual  Report,  p.  20. 

(5)  ,  Table  No.  19,  pp.  154-157. 

(6)  Bulletin  No.  37,  Bureau  of  Education.     School  Buildings  and 

Grounds,  pp.  14-16. 

(7)  Sixteenth  Annual  Report  of  the  Director  of  Education,   pp. 

62-63. 


THE  IMPROVEMENT  OF  BARRIO  SCHOOLS       25 

(8)  Sixteenth  Annual  Report,  Table  I,  p.  99,  and  Table  XIV, 

p.  106. 

(9)  Bataan  Division  Circular  No.  7,  s.   1915;    Bulletin  No.  87, 

Bureau  of  Education. 

(10)  Service  Manual,  Bureau  of  Education,  1917,  Ch.  VI. 

(11)  Bataan  Division  Circular  No.  7,  s.  1915. 

(12)  Shaw.    School  Hygiene.    Osias,  C.    Educational  Methods  and 

Practical  Suggestions,  pp.  65-70. 

(13)  Up  from  Slavery,  Ch.  VIII. 

(14)  Francis,  J.  H.    High  Points  in  the  Los  Angeles  Plan  {National 

Education  Association  Proceedings,  Vol.  LIV,  pp.  988-993). 

(15)  JoYNER,  J.  Y.    Rural  Education  {National  Education  Proceed- 

ings, Vol.  LIV,  pp.  269-274).  i  ^ 

(16)  Patten,  S.  N.    The  New  Basis  of  Civilization,  pp.  15-16. 

(17)  Administrative  Code,  1916,  Sec.  2238. 

(18)  Service  Manual,  Bureau  of  Eduxiation,  1917,  p.  235. 

General  Bibliography 

1.  Bulletin  No.  37,  Bureau  of  Education.     School  Buildings  and 

Grounds. 

2.  Sixteenth  Annual  Report  of  the  Director  of  Education. 

3.  Service  Manual,  Bureau  of  Education,  1916. 

4.  CuBBERLEY,  E.  P.     The  Improvement  of  Rural  Schools. 

5.  National  Education  Association  Proceedings,  Vol.  LIV. 

6.  Washington,  Booker  T.    Up  from  Slavery. 


CHAPTER  THREE 

Education  for  the  Barrio  Child 

In  a  democratically  constituted  society,  education  is 
a  grave  concern.  Like  politics,  it  is  everybody's  busi- 
ness. The  ideal  of  popular  education  is  a  beacon  light 
to  all  who  believe  in  the  evil  of  ignorance,  in  the  effi- 
cacy of  instruction,  and  in  the  joy  of  service.  Our 
people  are  conscious  of  the  desirability  of  that  form  of 
social  life  in  which  interests  are  interdependent  and 
interbound  and  where  readjustment  is  an  important 
consideration.  We  therefore  will  never  suffer  the 
torch  of  education  to  go  out  or  to  become  dimmed. 
We  will  at  all  times  support  the  cause  of  practical  and 
systematic  education. 

The  devotion  of  democracy  to  education  is  a  familiar 
fact.  The  superficial  explanation  is  that  a  government 
resting  upon  popular  suffrage  cannot  be  successful  unless 
those  who  elect  and  who  obey  their  governors  are  educated. 
Since  a  democratic  society  repudiates  the  principle  of 
external  authority,  it  must  find  a  substitute  in  voluntary 
disposition  and  interest;  these  can  be  created  only  by 
education.  But  there  is  a  deeper  explanation.  A  de- 
mocracy is  more  than  a  form  of  government;  it  is  prima- 
rily a  mode  of  associated  living,  of  conjoint  communicated 
experience.  The  extension  in  space  of  the  number  of 
individuals  who  participate  in  an  interest  so  that  each 
has  to  refer  his  own  action  to  that  of  others,  and  to  con- 
sider the  action  of  others  to  give  point  and  direction  to 
his  own,  is  equivalent  to  the  breaking  down  of  those 
barriers  of  class,  race,  and  national  territory  which  kept 
men  from  perceiving  the  full  import  of  their  activity. 
These  more  numerous  and  more  varied  points  of  contact 
denote  a  greater  diversity  of  stimuli  to  which  an  individual 
has  to  respond;  they  consequently  put  a  premium  on 
variation  in  his  action.    They  secure  a  liberation  of  powers 


EDUCATION  FOR  THE  BARRIO  CHILD  27 

which  remain  suppressed  as  long  as  the  incitations  to 
action  are  partial,  as  they  must  be  in  a  group  which  in 
its  exclusiveness  shuts  out  many  interests.  (1) 

THE   BARRIO   CHILD's   RIGHTS 

In  theory  all  children  have  equal  rights  and  privi- 
leges in  sharing  the  benefits  of  education.  In  practice, 
however,  the  child  in  the  barrio  has  not  so  far  had  the 
same  opportunity  for  instruction  as  the  child  in  the 
town  or  city.  To  be  sure,  there  is  no  conscious  at- 
tempt to  deny  the  barrio  child  any  of  the  rights  and 
privileges  which  are  his  by  law,  but  the  absence  of  a 
school  in  his  barrio,  or  the  inaccessibility  of  the  nearest 
school,  or  the  general  deficiency  of  the  school  in  his 
barrio,  for  him  has  been  a  serious  disadvantage. 

The  barrio  child  is  entitled  to  as  good  an  educational 
opportunity  as  that  enjoyed  by  the  most  favored  child, 
in  town  or  city,  attending  the  Philippine  public  school. 
This  is  not  to  say  that  the  barrio  school  shall  be  an 
exact  copy  of  the  school  in  town  or  city.  There  are 
certain  essentials  common  to  both  types  of  schools, 
and  it  is  the  barrio  child's  right  to  have  these  essen- 
tials. There  are  differences  in  environment  and  con- 
ditions, however,  which  should  lead  to  some  differen- 
tiation. What  this  differentiation  should  be  will  be 
in  part  indicated  here  and  will  be  more  fully  covered 
in  the  discussion  of  the  barrio  school  curriculum 
(page  58).  It  may  be  stated  here  that  the  barrio 
school  ought  to  be  just  as  efficient  in  fitting  the  barrio 
child  for  the  life  he  is  to  live  as  the  town  or  city  school 
is  in  fitting  the  town  or  city  child  for  the  life  he  is  to 
live.  (2) 

It  is  the  barrio  child's  right  to  have  an  opportunity 
to  enjoy  the  general  benefits  that  accrue  from  our 


28         BARRIO  LIFE  AND  BARRIO  EDUCATION 

public  school  system.  He  is  entitled  to  a  good  hygienic 
and  sanitary  school  building.  He  is  entitled  to  a  first- 
class  site  where  he  may  have  ample  space  for  outdoor 
work  and  play.  He  is  entitled  to  the  use  of  good  equip- 
ment and  to  the  enjoyment  of  art  in  pictures  and  art 
in  the  great  out-of-doors.  He  is  entitled  to  good  sani- 
tary facilities.  He  is  entitled  to  a  school  with  big 
possibilities  of  growth  and  improvement.  He  is  en- 
titled to  a  good  teacher  and  good  instruction.  He 
is  entitled  to  pursue  a  course  adapted  to  his  needs, 
interests,  and  capacities.  And,  let  us  not  forget,  he 
is  also  entitled  to  good,  wholesome  pleasure  and  plenty 
of  it.  In  short,  it  is  the  inalienable  right  of  the  barrio 
child  to  acquire  an  education  and  to  live  a  healthy, 
normal  child's  life. 

It  should  be  said  in  passing  that  the  term  "barrio 
child"  applies  to  a  barrio  girl  as  well  as  to  a  barrio  boy. 
The  frequent  use  of  the  masculine  pronoun  in  refer- 
ring to  the  barrio  child  does  not  mean  that  the  barrio 
girl  is  being  discriminated  against.  It  must  be  ad- 
mitted that  the  barrio  girls  do  not  seem  to  be  getting 
benefit  from  the  schools  to  the  same  extent  as  the  bar- 
rio boys;  the  enrollment  of  the  barrio  schools  shows 
a  great  preponderance  of  boys.  However,  it  is  a  part 
of  the  writer's  creed  for  barrio  education  that  the  barrio 
girl  is  entitled  to  every  whit  as  good  an  opportunity  as 
that  enjoyed  by  the  barrio  boy. 

ECONOMIC   STANDARDS   OF  LIVING 

The  economic  and  social  conditions  in  a  community 
determine  in  a  great  measure  the  character  of  its 
school.  In  a  community  where  the  citizens  are  well- 
to-do  and  progressive,  where  the  people  have  a  civic 


y 


WPl! 


V:urvaa  >f  £:!  aculion,  Manila.  P.  1. 


A  temporary  barrio  school  building. 


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Bureau  of  Education,  Manila,  P.  I. 
School  garden  at  Lingsat,  barrio  of  San  Fernandp,  Union. 


EDUCATION  FOR  THE  BARRIO  CHILD  29 

pride,  where  the  patrons  are  high-minded  and  big- 
hearted  —  here  we  may  generally  expect  a  school 
which  is  a  factor  in  making  life  freer,  happier,  and 
more  efficient.  On  the  other  hand,  in  a  community 
where  the  members  are  poor  and  contented,  where 
the  people  are  more  or  less  indifferent  to  community 
needs  and  interests,  where  parents  send  their  children 
to  school  to  get  rid  of  them  part  of  the  day  —  there 
you  may  generally  look  for  a  poor  school,  a  school  out 
of  touch  with  the  community.  It  is  not  getting  enough 
helpful  cooperation  from  the  people,  and  it  is  not 
giving  enough  to  make  life  larger,  better,  and  more 
worth  living.  In  such  a  community  there  is  need  of 
preaching  the  spirit  of  discontent.  The  people  must 
be  led  to  acquire  higher  tastes  and  a  desire  for  better 
things.     The  standard  of  living  must  be  raised. 

A  family  happy  with  rice  and  salt,  content  with 
scanty  clothing,  and  satisfied  to  live  in  a  shack,  can 
hardly  be  expected  to  be  greatly  concerned  about  the 
schoohng  of  the  children.  It  is  no  disgrace  to  admit 
that  most  of  our  barrio  people,  the  patrons  of  the 
barrio  school,  have  not  yet  conceived  education 
broadly.  They  do  not  have  high  expectations  from 
the  schools.  They  think  that  the  schools  have  fulfilled 
their  function  when  the  children  have  been  enrolled 
and  have  been  furnished  with  the  simplest  rudiments 
of  "reading,  'riting,  and  'rithmetic."  They  have  not 
grasped  the  idea  that  education  is  a  process  of  enlarg- 
ing and  enriching  life.  The  consequence  is  that  the 
barrio  school  has  not  conceived  its  function  in  a  broad 
way.  The  attitude  of  the  community  is  reflected  in 
the  character  of  the  scLtool.  A  stream,  in  truth,  can- 
not rise  higher  than  its  source.  (3)     The  remedy  lies 


30         BAREIO  LIFE  AND  BARRIO  EDUCATION 

in  elevating  barrio  community  and  barrio  school 
standards.  There  must  be  a  mutual  concession  and 
cooperation. 

Betts  speaks  of  the  danger  in  rural  communities  of 
premature  aging  and  stagnation.  (4)     He  says: 

The  indisputable  tendency  of  farmers  and  their  wives 
to  age  so  rapidly,  and  so  early  to  fall  into  the  ranks  of 
"fogyism,"  is  due  far  more  to  lack  of  variety  and  recreation 
and  to  dearth  of  intellectual  stimulus  than  to  hard  labor, 
severe  as  this  often  is.  Age  is  more  than  the  flight  of  the 
years,  the  stoop  of  the  form,  or  the  hardening  of  the  ar- 
teries; it  is  also  the  atrophy  of  the  intellect  and  the 
fading  away  of  the  emotions  resulting  from  disuse.  The 
farmer  needs  occasionally  to  have  something  more  exciting 
than  the  alternation  of  the  day's  work  with  the  nightly 
"chores."  And  his  wife  should  now  and  then  have  an 
opportunity  to  meet  people  other  than  those  for  whom  she 
cooks  and  sews. 

Patten,  in  The  New  Basis  of  Civilization,  (5)  blocks 
in  elementary  fashion  "the  income  graduation  whereby 
men  pass  from  one  stage  of  progress  to  another,"  and 
he  says  that  the  relative  economic  levels  in  America 
look  somewhat  like  this: 


$5000 

Economic  Leisure 

$2000 

Economic  Initiative 

$1200 

Economic  Independence 

$800 

Economic  Freedom 

$500 

Family  Continuity 

$300 

Poverty 

Dissolution 

It  is  believed  that  if  the  dollar  sign  ($)  were  changed 
and  the  peso  sign  (P)  substituted  in  this  table  without 


EDUCATION  FOR  THE  BARRIO  CHILD  31 

changing  the  figures,  we  should  have  a  table  which 
would  approximate  the  "relative  economic  levels"  in 
the  Philippine  Islands.  And  the  following  discussion 
of  conditions  in  America  by  the  same  author  would 
prove  greatly  inatructive  and  illuminating  to  us  as  a 
people. 

The  dissolution  of  famihes  in  large  cities  is  well-nigh 
inevitable  when  its  income  falls  below  $500.  Those 
which  do  cling  together  are  chiefly  the  latest  comers, 
intruded  material  which  has  not  yet  taken  the  pattern 
that  their  forerunners  are  adopting.  The  Itahan  parents, 
who  landed  in  New  York  a  year  ago,  send  their  ten-year- 
old  boy  to  work  instead  of  to  school,  not  only  because 
they  take  it  for  granted  that  he  must  work,  but  also 
because  they  do  not  grasp  the  fact  that  poor  boys  here 
go  to  school.  Five  years  later,  when  mother  and  sisters 
are  discomfited  by  their  native  dresses  and  the  father 
wants  half -holidays,  —  when  the  old  social  forces  have 
weakened  before  the  advance  of  new  economic  motives,  — 
the  ten-year-old  boy  may  still  be  sent  to  work.  But  now 
there  are  complaints.  "Pietro  ought  to  study  Roosevelt- 
book  [history],  but  padrone  is  too  mean,'*  said  a  mother, 
fretfully,  herself  the  daughter  of  a  long  line  of  peasants 
whose  family  standards  did  not  include  literacy.  And 
now  her  family,  living  on  a  dollar  a  day,  verges  on  dis- 
solution; it  must  move  upward  toward  $500  or  downward, 
where  the  eliminating  forces  of  prostitution,  intemperance, 
and  the  other  vices  sweep  it  out  of  the  reckoning.  The 
disturbances  made  by  the  foreign  influx  do  not  threaten 
a  permanent  depression;  they  are  but  the  cost  of  moving 
populations  over  the  face  of  the  globe  and  the  clashing 
of  new  forces  against  old  ones,  which  cannot  endure 
outside  the  condition  that  generated  them. 

With  $500  the  Americanized  family  can  perpetuate  it- 
self, balanced  by  the  juncture  of  depressant  social  instincts 
which  arrest  it  below  the  $800  level,  where  men  without 
them  would  be  free,  and  the  upthrusting  economic  motives 


32  BARRIO  LIFE  AND  BARRIO  EDUCATION 

that  would  postpone  the  family  until  full  nutrition  were 
secured.  If  emphasis  is  laid,  as  it  ought  to  be,  on  the 
value  of  the  wife's  home  services  in  the  $500  group,  the 
real  income  will  be  estimated  at  more  than  the  nominal 
one,  and  her  influence  in  lifting  the  members  into  the 
next  stratum  of  wants  will  be  as  evident  here  as  it  is  in 
the  succeeding  divisions.  The  computation  is  based  on 
the  money  wage  of  the  head  of  the  family  and  gives  no 
equivalent  to  the  labor  services  of  the  wife,  which  un- 
doubtedly raises  the  income  in  goods  above  the  point 
commonly  assigned.  In  comparing  the  workingman  with 
the  man  of  economic  independence  a  fair  basis  of  judg- 
ment cannot  be  reached  imless  a  value  be  given  to  the 
unpaid  duties  performed  by  the  wife,  which  in  other 
grades  of  living  are  provided  for  from  the  family  purse. 
A  budget  of  $2000  a  year  will  generally  include  an  item 
for  household  services  performed  by  a  maid  or  occasional 
scrub  and  wash  women.  When  the  work  is  done  by  the 
laborer's  wife,  she  should  be  credited  with  a  similar  item 
and  her  influence  be  noted  as  raising  the  standard  of 
family  life  very  much  as  the  presence  of  a  domestic  em- 
ployee raises  it.  The  man  who  earns  $500  and  is  helped 
at  home  by  a  capable  wife  certainly  has  in  her  services 
the  value  of  a  hundred  dollars. 

What  does  this  have  to  do  with  the  general  school 
question?  Much.  Standards  of  living  are  defined, 
and  education  should  be  a  great  factor  in  influencing 
boys  and  girls,  men  and  women,  to  aspire  and  labor  for 
a  higher  standard  of  living.  The  efficacy  of  the  schools 
to  assist  the  citizens  to  place  themselves  upon  an 
economic  plane  of  life  above  the  level  of  poverty, 
yes,  above  the  level  of  mere  family  continuity, 
should  be  considered  an  important  measure  of  their 
efficiency. 


EDUCATION  FOR  THE  BARRIO  CHILD  33 

EDUCATIONAL   DEMANDS   UPON  THE  BARRIO  CHILD 

The  new  standards  of  living  make  new  demands 
upon  the  future  citizens  born  and  reared  amidst  barrio 
environment.  Education  at  such  an  age  as  this  is 
not  a  luxury  but  an  individual  and  social  necessity. 
What,  then,  should  the  barrio  child's  education  con- 
sist of?  The  barrio  child,  like  the  city  child,  should 
possess  the  minimum  essentials  common  to  rural  and 
urban  school  systems.  At  present  the  education 
offered  in  barrio  schools  is  primary  education.  In 
many  of  them  not  even  the  full  primary  course  is 
taught.  The  new  day,  however,  has  dawned  upon  our 
barrio  population.  It  is  only  a  question  of  a  few 
years  before  intermediate  instruction  will  be  the 
rightful  heritage  of  the  barrio  child.  Many  of  the 
present  generation  should  yet  live  to  see  secondary 
instruction  in  junior  high  schools  in  a  few  of  our 
larger  and  more  progressive  barrios.  Let  us  consider 
the  five  needs  of  the  child  that  the  school  must  meet. 

(1)  Confining  ourselves  to  the  present  and  the  im- 
mediate future,  we  must  admit  that  physical  instruc- 
tion should  be  a  vital  part  of  the  barrio  child's  educa- 
tion. The  barrio  boy  or  girl  needs  to  learn  to  play 
and  to  enjoy.  Wholesome  games  and  sports  should 
be  taught  to  the  barrio  child  to  replace  the  "tangga," 
and  other  amusements  having  the  gambling  element 
which  were  common  pastimes  of  childhood  in  the  days 
of  old.  Clean  recreation  should  drive  out  much  of 
the  dreary  monotony  of  barrio  environment.  Well- 
conducted  calisthenics  and  properly  managed  athletic 
meets  should  at  intervals  be  shown  for  the  benefit 
of  the  participants  and  for  the  entertainment  of  the 


34         BARRIO  LIFE  AND  BARRIO  EDUCATION 

neighborhood.  Physical  instruction  should  include 
that  training  which  fosters  the  formation  of  hygienic 
and  sanitary  habits.  In  short,  the  physical  education 
of  the  barrio  child  should  be  that  which  is  conducive 
to  the  conservation  and,  if  possible,  the  improvement 
of  health.    It  should  make  for  greater  physical  efficiency. 

(2)  The  barrio  child's  education  should  include  prac- 
tical training  in  intellectual  pursuits  which  will  quicken 
his  mind.  He  needs  linguistic  training;  he  needs  to 
acquire  the  power  to  read  and  the  habit  of  reading; 
he  needs  to  possess  the  ability  to  write;  and  he  needs 
number  work  which  will  identify  him  with  the  quanti- 
tative relations  of  life.  The  barrio  child  should  also 
have  some  notion  of  the  world  about  him,  of  the  story 
of  his  people  and  of  his  country's  past.  Training  in 
habits  of  good  citizenship  should  constitute  one  of  his 
priceless  possessions.  His  academic  studies  will  be 
discussed  more  definitely  in  a  later  chapter  (page  58), 
where  the  barrio  school  curriculum  is  considered  in 
some  detail. 

(3)  Esthetic  training  is  a  vital  part  of  the  child's 
instruction.  He  must  be  schooled  to  abhor  the  evil 
and  the  ugly  and  to  love  the  good  and  the  beautiful 
in  men  and  nature.  His  work  in  drawing,  his  school 
environment,  his  share  in  beautifying  the  grounds, 
and  countless  other  agencies  should  assist  to  further 
his  growth  in  aesthetic  appreciation.  Influences,  direct 
and  indirect,  should  be  brought  to  bear  so  that  the 
barrio  homes  may  be  cleaner,  more  orderly,  and  more 
substantial. 

(4)  Vocational  education  is  necessary  to  fit  the 
barrio  child  for  participation  in  the  social  life  of  the 
new   barrio   communities   that   are   fast  coming   into 


EDUCATION  FOR  THE  BARRIO  CHILD  35 

being.  There  must  be  training  of  an  industrial  nature 
to  give  the  barrio  pupils  opportunity  to  acquire  in- 
dustrial knowledge,  industrial  skill,  and  industrial 
sympathy.  When  barrio  intermediate  schools  are 
estabHshed,  —  as  surely  they  must  be  in  a  future  not 
remote,  —  they  must  be  "  barrio-ized "  intermediate 
schools.  They  must  offer  courses  somewhat  differen- 
tiated from  those  given  in  similar  schools  of  the  towns 
or  cities.  For  intermediate  boys  of  the  barrios,  the 
special  farming  course  is  best  fitted.  The  dream  of 
many  of  our  thinkers,  of  turning  the  tide  of  youth 
from  clerical  interests  into  agricultural  channels,  will 
be  more  effectively  realized  when  these  **barrio-ized" 
intermediate  schools  with  farming  courses  have  been 
established  and  efficiently  administered.  For  inter- 
mediate girls  of  the  barrios,  a  modified  and  improved 
special  housekeeping  course  should  be  devised.  Just 
as  the  barrio  intermediate  courses  for  boys  should 
prepare  the  boys  for  farm  life  and  for  fatherhood,  just 
so  should  the  barrio  intermediate  courses  prepare  the 
girls  for  home  life  on  the  farm  and  for  motherhood. 

(5)  It  is  not  enough  to  train  the  barrio  child  for  his 
vocation.  He  must  also  be  fitted  for  some  avocation. 
Training  for  leisure  should  go  hand  in  hand  with 
training  for  work.  The  citizen  of  the  new  order  must 
not  only  have  a  chief  life  work  but  must  have  some 
side  interests  to  vary  his  activity  and  to  widen  his  area 
of  shared  concerns.  The  idle  hands  not  only  do  mis- 
chief, but  cause  poverty.  A  man's  vocation  should 
be  his  primary  concern;  his  avocation,  a  secondary 
matter.  Nevertheless,  his  training  nowadays  is  in- 
complete unless  there  is  a  clean,  interesting,  and 
profitable  avocation  to  occupy  his  leisure  hours. 


36         BARRIO  LIFE  AND  BARRIO  EDUCATION 

The  education  for  the  barrio  child,  then,  should  make 
for  all-round  development.  His  schooling  should  ap- 
peal to  his  many-sided  self.  It  should  minister  to 
his  physical,  intellectual,  moral,  aesthetic,  and  indus- 
trial well-being.  But  let  us  not  be  over-enthusiastic 
in  our  claims  for  barrio  education.  While  we  believe 
in  the  principle  that  barrio  education  should  adjust 
barrio  children  to  barrio  life,  we  are  also  conscious  of 
the  fact  that  urbanization  cannot  be  wholly  checked. 
Some  —  perhaps  many  —  will  not  be  able  to  resist 
the  lure  of  town  or  city  life.  It  is  inevitable  and 
probably  desirable  that  some  be  thus  lured.  Reac- 
tion may  yet  come,  however.  When  the  standards  of 
barrio  life  are  elevated,  when  educational  opportuni- 
ties are  more  nearly  equalized,  the  call  of  the  farm  may 
make  itself  heard.  It  may  —  who  knows .^  —  prove 
an  irresistible  call,  luring  —  yes,  "  barrio-izing "  — 
some  of  our  urban  population.  INIean while  let  us  have 
faith  in  barrio  life  and  barrio  education,  and  in  that 
faith  let  us  labor  for  the  "  barrio-ization "  of  most  of 
our  barrio  population  and  a  few  of  our  urban  popu- 
lation. 

CREEDS    PROPOSED 

President  Creelman  of  Ontario  Agricultural  College 
gave  pertinent  suggestions  for  improving  the  rural 
school  curricula  before  members  of  the  National  Edu- 
cation Association  interested  in  rural  school  questions, 
at  a  meeting  held  in  New  York  City.  (6)  At  the  close 
of  his  address  he  proposed  as  rural  school  creeds  those 
used  for  Ontario  country  boys  and  girls.  The  creeds 
are  sound  and  instructive.  The  following  creeds 
patterned  after  them  are  submitted  as  creeds  for  barrio 
boys  and  girls: 


EDUCATION  FOR  THE  BARRIO  CHILD  37 

THE  BARRIO  BOY'S  CREED 

1.  I  believe  that  life  in  the  barrio  can  be  made  as 

pleasant,  as  hygienic,  and  as  profitable  as  life  in 
the  town  or  city. 

2.  I  believe  that  if  I  kill  the  weeds  on  our  farm,  we 

shall  be  well  paid  by  the  increased  crop  alone, 
to  say  nothing  of  the  benefit  to  our  neighbors. 

3.  I  believe  that  by  keeping  more  chickens  and  by 

careful  selection  of  breeds  I  can  double  the  output 
of  the  flock. 

4.  I  believe  that  by  keeping  twice  as  many   work 

animals  and  by  taking  better  care  of  them  we 
can  grow  much  larger  crops  of  rice,  corn,  and 
other  things. 

5.  I  believe  that  by  keeping  a  good  home  garden  we 

can  increase,  vary,  and  improve  our  diet. 

6.  I  believe  that   by   better   selection   of  seeds   and 

plants  we  can  double  our  crops. 

7.  I  believe  that  by  planting  fruit  trees,  keeping  a 

good  fence,  and  growing  climbing  vines,  shrubs, 
and  flowers,  we  shall  be  better  contented  and 
happier  in  every  way  and  our  land  will  increase 
in  value. 

8.  I  believe  in  good  health  and  that  cleanliness  is 

the  greatest  preventive  of  any  disease. 

9.  I  believe  that  it  is  more  comfortable  and  more 

hygienic  to  sleep  on  a  bed  and  under  a  mosquito 
net. 

10.  I  believe  in  pluck,  not  in  luck. 

11.  I  believe  in  the  dignity  of  labor  and  in  farming 

as  an  honorable  calling,  and  I  am  glad  that  work 
and  gardening  are  taught  in  school. 

12.  1  believe  in  giving  and  receiving  a  square  deal 

in  every  act  of  life. 


38        BARRIO  LIFE  AND  BARRIO  EDUCATION 

THE  BARRIO  GIRL'S  CREED 

1.  I  believe  that  I  can  be  as  happy  in  the  barrio  as 

any  girl  in  the  town  or  city. 

2.  I  beheve  in  beautiful  things,  and  that  God's  blue 

sky  and  God's  green  earth  are  a  part  of  my 
inheritance. 

3.  I  believe  that  I  have  a  right  to  love  chickens  and 

pigs  and  goats  and  puppies  as  well  as  dolls  and 
dresses. 

4.  I  believe  that  I  can  take  care   of   some   domestic 

animals  as  well  as  my  brother,  who  does  not  love 
them  as  much  as  I. 

5.  I  believe  in  homemaking,  and  I  may  become  a 

homemaker  by  helping  mother  and  by  studying 
the  art  and  science  of  homemaking. 

6.  I  believe  in  a  good  house,  and  I  can  help  keep  a 

good  house  by  keeping  it  clean  and  orderly. 

7.  I  believe  I  can  learn  to  do  sewing,  cooking,  and 

laundry  work  and  do  them  well,  and  I  want  to 
learn  them  and  do  them  well. 

8.  I  believe  in  hard  work,  but  also  I  like  to  play  and 

have  some  fun. 

9.  I  believe  in  keeping  a  garden  of  my  own.    I  believe 

I  would  love  to  give  away  flowers  and  cook  vege- 
tables which  I  myself  raised. 

10.  I  believe  in  good  health.     I  believe  our  family 

will  be  in  better  health  if  I  help  boil  the  water 
we  drink,  cook  better  foods,  make  mosquito  nets, 
and  take  good  care  of  the  babies. 

11.  I  believe  I  have  a  right  to  live  in  the  barrio.     I 

don't  like  to  live  in  the  city  and  be  away  from  my 
folks  at  home  and  also  I  shall  miss  my  plants, 
the  green  grass,  the  trees,  and  the  birds. 

12.  I  believe  in  a  square  deal  for  everybody. 


EDUCATION  FOR  THE  BARRIO  CHILD  39 

Sources  of  Quotations  and  References 

(1)  Dewey,  John.    Democracy  and  Education,  p.  101. 

(2)  Kern,  O.  J.    Among  Country  Schools,  Ch.  II. 

(3)  Betts,  G.  H.    New  Ideals  in  Rural  Schools,  pp.  25-M. 

(4)  .    New  Ideals  in  Rural  Schools,  pp.  29-30. 

(5)  See  pages  87-88. 

(6)  National  Education  Association  Proceedings,  1916,  pp.  947-953. 

General  Bibliography 

1.  Patten,  Simon  N.    New  Basis  of  Civilization, 

2.  Dewey,  John.    Democracy  and  Education, 

3.  Betts,  G.  H.     New  Ideals  in  Rural  Schools, 

4.  Ayres,  L.  p.    Child  Accounting  in  the  Public  Schools, 

5.  Bailey,  Henry  Turner.    Art  Education, 


CHAPTER  FOUR 

The  Barrio  Teacher  and  the  Barrio  School 

The  barrio  educational  problem  is  inseparable  from 
barrio  life.  This  being  so,  it  would  be  profitable  to 
have  an  insight  into  some  of  the  barrio  conditions, 
in  order  that  we  may  more  easily  understand  the 
probable  social  scene  of  action  where  the  barrio  child 
is  to  play  his  part  after  his  training  in  the  barrio  school 
under  the  direction  and  guidance  of  the  barrio  teacher. 

a  glimpse  of  barrio  conditions 

The  practical,  contented,  and  sturdy  inhabitants 
of  barrio  communities  possess  those  fundamental 
qualities  observed  and  admired  by  foreigners,  from 
time  immemorial,  as  virtues  characteristic  of  the 
Filipino  race.  Among  them  are  politeness,  hospitality, 
and  loyalty  to  family  ties.  A  famous  European  ob- 
server who  traveled  extensively  in  the  Philippines 
during  the  Spanish  rule  recorded  his  impression  of 
one  of  the  Filipino  traits  of  character  in  these  words: 
"Filipino  hospitality  is  ample,  and  much  more  com- 
prehensive than  that  practiced  in  Europe."  (1)  The 
same  authority,  Jagor,  also  described  some  of  the 
home  conditions  of  the  people  in  the  provinces,  who 
dwelt  in  more  or  less  rural  communities.  The  follow- 
ing excerpt  is  quoted  because  the  description  has  much 
that  still  holds  true  of  the  conditions  that  obtain  among 
barrio  families  who  are  sheltered  in  the  unassuming, 
but  for  their  purposes  very  practical,  houses  of  bam- 
boos and  nipa  palm  leaves  or  cogon  grass.  The  de- 
scription furthermore  points  out  a  commendable  trait 
of  the  people,  their  cooperative  spirit,  as  well  as  a 

40 


BARRIO  TEACHER  AND  BARRIO  SCHOOL        41 

clanger  to  which  inhabitants  Hving  amidst  such  sur- 
roundings are  exposed: 

Every  family  possesses  its  own  house;  and  the  young 
husband  generally  builds  with  the  assistance  of  his  friends. 
In  many  places  it  does  not  cost  more  than  four  or  five 
dollars,  as  he  can,  if  necessary,  build  it  himself  free  of 
expense,  wjth  the  simple  aid  of  the  forest-knife  (bolo)  and 
of  the  materials  to  his  hand,  bamboo,  Spanish  cane,  and 
palm  leaves.  These  houses,  which  are  always  built  on 
piles  on  account  of  the  humidity  of  the  soil,  often  consist 
of  a  single  shed,  which  serves  for  all  the  uses  of  a  dwelling, 
and  are  the  cause  of  great  laxity  and  of  filthy  habits, 
the  whole  family  sleeping  therein  in  common,  and  every 
passer-by  being  a  welcome  guest.  (2) 

Except  in  the  wealthier  homes,  the  details  of  house- 
hold belongings  in  the  ordinary  barrio  home  are  rather 
simple  and  limited.  Under  a  little  extension  shed 
near  the  entrance  to  the  house  may  be  seen  a  wooden 
mortar,  several  pestles,  and  a  few  baskets  which  are 
used  when  pounding  rice.  The  stairway  by  which 
one  ascends  to  the  house  is  of  bamboo.  Within  one 
sees  about  the  room  a  long  wooden  bench  stretched 
along  the  wall;  two  chairs  facing  one  another  near 
one  of  the  windows;  along  the  opposite  wall  one  or 
two  wooden  trunks  and  a  few  tampipis;  in  a  corner 
near  these  a  "pillowstead"  {unanan,  Tagalog,  or  dayu- 
day^  Ilocano),  a  framework  where  pillows  are  piled, 
and  several  rolled  petates,  or  sleeping  mats,  to  be 
spread  at  bedtime  on  the  strips  of  bamboo  with  which 
the  barrio  house  is  ordinarily  floored.  In  the  center 
of  the  room  is  seen  hanging  a  lamp;  along  the  walls 
are  also  hanging  the  useful  bolo,  several  bottles  con- 
taining oil,  and  a  guitar,  or  bandurria.  In  the  little 
kitchen  a  stove,  some  earthen  pots,  and  a  carajay  for 


42        BARRIO  LIFE  AND  BARRIO  EDUCATION 

cooking,  a  large  jar  where  rice  is  kept,  and  two  or 
three  jars  of  drinking  water,  each  covered  with  a 
wooden  plate,  some  wooden  spoons  {ado,  Ilocano), 
coconut  cups,  and  dippers,  and  perhaps  a  few  plates, 
complete  the  hst  of  utensils.  In  the  batalan  may  be 
seen  a  large  tinaja  containing  water  for  washing,  and 
perhaps  several  pots  with  growing  plants  —  some 
edible,  a  few  medicinal,  and  others  decorative. 

THE   BARRIO   AND   ITS   INSTITUTION   FOR  UPLIFT 

From  this  brief  description  we  may  catch  a  glimpse 
of  conditions  in  the  ordinary  community  in  a  barrio. 
What  is  a  barrio?  It  "may  be  but  a  httle  cluster  of 
huts,  located  on  the  edge  of  the  yet  untouched  forest 
where  they  will  be  contiguous  to  the  planted  crop;  but 
a  barrio  may  also  sometimes  be  a  little  village  in  itself, 
with  its  separate  school  (just  as  it  had  a  visita,  or  chapel 
dependent  upon  the  parish  church  of  the  town,  in 
Spanish  times)  and  with  a  thousand  or  more  inhabit- 
ants." (3) 

THE   PLACE   OF   THE   BARRIO   TEACHER 

The  school,  then,  is  the  outstanding  institution  for 
individual  and  social  uplift  in  the  barrio,  and  the  barrio 
teacher  is  the  minister  for  the  welfare  and  advance- 
ment in  the  barrio  community.  Viewed  from  the 
educational  viewpoint,  the  teacher's  place  is  that  of 
an  intermediary  between  the  child  and  the  curriculum. 
The  previous  chapter  dealt  with  the  education  suitable 
for  the  barrio  child.  The  chapter  following  this  is  to 
deal  with  that  great  mass  of  subject  matter,  that 
wealth  of  chosen  individual  and  social  experience, 
that  lies  ready  for  the  pupil  to  learn. 


BARRIO  TEACHER  AND  BARRIO  SCHOOL        43 

THE   BARRIO   TEACHER*S   FUNCTION 

To  act  as  an  interpreter  between  the  learner  and  the 
curriculum  is  the  teacher's  function,  and  this  is  a 
grave  responsibility  and  a  serious  task.  His  is  the 
duty  to  prepare  the  pupils  for  active  and  intelligent 
participation  in  rural  life,  to  train  them  for  the  voca- 
tions of  barrio  life,  and  to  offer  them  the  advantages 
as  well  as  the  essentials  of  an  education.  (4) 

With  the  child  the  teacher  is  greatly  concerned. 
Dewey  wrote:  "It  is  his  [the  child's]  present  powers 
which  are  to  assert  themselves;  his  present  capacities 
which  are  to  be  exercised;  his  present  attitudes  which 
are  to  be  realized."  (5) 

With  regard  to  the  curriculum  and  its  relation  to 
the  teacher  the  same  authority  said: 

Now,  the  value  of  the  formulated  wealth  of  knowledge 
that  makes  up  the  course  of  study  is  that  it  may  enable 
the  educator  to  determine  the  environment  of  the  child, 
and  thus  by  indirection  to  direct.  Its  primary  value,  its 
primary  indication,  is  for  the  teacher,  not  for  the  child. 
It  says  to  the  teacher:  Such  and  such  are  the  capacities, 
the  fulfillments,  in  truth  and  beauty  and  behavior,  open 
to  these  children.  Now  see  to  it  that  day  by  day  the 
conditions  are  such  that  their  own  activities  move  in- 
evitably in  this  direction,  toward  such  culmination  of 
themselves.  Let  the  child's  nature  fulfill  its  own  destiny, 
revealed  to  you  in  whatever  of  science  and  art  and  in- 
dustry the  world  now  holds  as  its  own.  (6) 

teacher's  qualifications  demanded 

If  such  is  the  teacher's  function,  and  it  is,  what 
qualifications  must  he  possess  to  fulfill  his  mission 
wisely?  This  is  a  pertinent  question,  and  without 
going  into  a  detailed  exposition  of  the  qualities,  train- 


44         BARRIO  LIFE  AND  BARRIO  EDUCATION 

ing,  experience,  and  ideals  a  teacher  should  possess, 
we  venture  to  answer  by  proposing  three  requisites. 
To  discharge  his  duties  effectively,  scientifically,  and 
efficiently,  it  is  essential  — 

First,  that  the  teacher  know,  and  know  wisely  and 
thoroughly,  the  subject  matter; 

Second,  that  he  know,  and  know  wisely  and  thor- 
oughly, the  methods  of  instruction;    and 

Third,  that  he  know,  and  know  wisely  and  thor- 
oughly, the  child. 

Efficiency  in  education  demands  on  the  part  of  the 
teacher  a  knowledge  of  these  three  factors.  He  must 
have  a  knowledge  of  the  subject  matter,  for  he  cannot 
teach  unless  he  knows  what  he  is  to  teach;  he  must 
have  a  knowledge  of  methods,  for  he  cannot  teach 
unless  he  knows  how  to  teach;  he  must  know  the 
child,  for  he  cannot  teach  one  whose  nature  he  does 
not  know.  (7)  To  teach  perfectly,  one  must  have  a 
perfect  knowledge  of  these  three  factors;  to  teach 
properly,  one  must  have  adequate  knowledge  of  them. 
The  most  successful  teacher  is  he  who,  other  things 
being  equal,  knows  best  the  subject  matter,  methods, 
and  the  child,  and  has  the  greatest  power  and  skill  to 
apply  that  knowledge. 

SHORTCOMINGS 

In  the  light  of  these  considerations,  it  is  no  dis- 
respect to  the  teachers  to  admit  serious  shortcomings. 
It  is  no  disgrace  to  confess  weakness  and  inefficiency 
in  many  barrio  schools.  It  must  be  acknowledged  that 
most  barrio  teachers  know  little  about  subject  matter, 
know  less  about  methods,  and  know  least  about  child 


BARRIO  TEACHER  AND  BARRIO  SCHOOL   45 

nature.  This  is  not  at  all  surprising,  for  even  in  such 
a  progressive  country  as  America,  educators  are  clamor- 
ing for  a  new  type  of  rural  teachers.  Here  is  the  way 
the  "average  rural  teacher"  in  the  United  States  is 
described : 

Without  intentional  disrespect  to  teachers  now  engaged 
in  rural  service,  it  must,  nevertheless,  be  acknowledged 
that  the  average  rural  teacher  of  today  is  a  mere  slip  of 
a  girl,  often  almost  too  young  to  have  formed  as  yet  any 
conception  of  the  problem  of  rural  life  and  needs;  that 
she  knows  little  as  to  the  nature  of  children  or  the  technique 
of  instruction;  that  her  education  is  very  limited  and 
confined  largely  to  the  old  traditional  school-subjects, 
while  of  the  great  and  important  fields  of  science  she  is 
almost  entirely  ignorant;  and  that  she  not  infrequently 
lacks  in  those  qualities  of  leadership  which  are  so  essential 
for  rural  progress.  (8) 

Change  the  gender  from  feminine  to  masculine,  and 
the  above  discussion  applies  exactly  to  the  average 
barrio  teacher  of  the  Philippines  today. 

MUNICIPAL  teachers'   ATTAINMENTS 

Although  the  barrio  teachers  do  not  have  as  good 
training  as  we  desire,  their  record  of  service,  consider- 
ing all  circumstances,  is  nothing  short  of  marvelous. 
In  common  with  other  municipal  teachers  they  are 
constantly  advancing.  The  rapid  improvement  in 
the  attainments  of  Filipino  teachers  during  the  last 
few  years  is  good  cause  for  optimism.  The  following 
table  of  progress  in  attainments  makes  the  outlook  in 
the  future  bright: 


46 


BARRIO  LIFE  AND  BARRIO  EDUCATION 


1909-10 
1910-11 
1911-12 
1912-13 
1913-14 
1914-15 
1915-16 
1916-17 
1917-18 
1918-19 


Grade  IV  and 
under 

First  year 
to  fourth 

Above 
fourth 

year 

year 

564 

2,082 

370 

2,837 

178 

2,855 

89 

96 

3,271 

251 

78 

5,104 

341 

64 

6,237 

468 

36 

7,790 

616 

8,956 

1,228 

10,530 

1,223 

11,838 

1,623 

It  should  be  said  by  way  of  explanation  that  the 
teachers  with  low  academic  attainments  have  been 
employed  as  instructors  of  industrial  work.  The 
Director  of  Education,  commenting  upon  the  data 
given  above,  said:  "The  decrease  in  the  number  of 
teachers  of  primary  attainments,  the  increase  in  those 
of  first-year  attainments,  and  the  gain  in  high-school 
and  college  graduates,  indicate  the  steady  progress 
made  in  raising  the  qualifications  of  the  teaching 
staff."  (9) 


MUNICIPAL   TEACHERS     SALARIES 

Our  inadequate  finances  for  school  purposes  have 
retarded  educational  progress.  The  barrio  school  has 
been  left  stranded  behind  all  others.  Good  teaching 
is  not  wholly,  but  it  is  largely,  dependent  upon  salaries. 
The  salary  paid  the  ordinary  municipal  teacher  today 
is  hardly  a  decent  living  wage.  The  day  is  fast  com- 
ing—  and  in  many  places,  indeed,  it  has  come  — 
when  P7.00  per  week  is  the  very  lowest  amount  that 
could  be  considered  as  a  living  wage.    Yet  at  the  close 


BARRIO  TEACHER  AND  BARRIO  SCHOOL        47 

of  the  school  year  1915-16  the  average  monthly  salary 
paid  each  of  the  9138  municipal  teachers  employed  was 
only  P22.88.  Twenty-six  provinces  paid  an  average 
salary  below  F22.88,  and  thirteen  provinces  paid  less 
than  T20.00.  (10)  Lately  the  minimum  salary  was 
raised  to  TSO  in  most  provinces  and  to  P40  in  the  few 
others.  The  need  of  devising  ways  and  means  for 
increasing  our  school  finances  is  obvious  and  im- 
perative. 

The  salaries  of  public  school  teachers  are  a  matter 
of  vital  concern  to  the  country  from  the  standpoint 
of  service.  In  the  general  competitive  struggle  the 
teaching  profession  cannot  hold  its  own  with  other 
professions,  trades,  and  occupations  unless  adequate 
salaries  are  paid.  While  recognizing  the  many  defi- 
ciencies of  the  average  barrio  teacher  for  really  effec- 
tive barrio  service,  all  have  to  admit  that  the  results 
obtained  are  truly  remarkable,  in  spite  of  poor  com- 
pensation and  other  hardships.  The  wonder  is  that 
so  many  young  men  of  energy  and  earnestness  can 
be  attracted  to  such  a  poorly  paid  calling,  even  for 
short  periods,  and  that  they  are  willing,  during  their 
period  of  employment,  to  spend  so  much  time  and 
effort  in  study  and  work  and  service.  This  fact  is 
eloquent  tribute  to  the  patriotism  of  the  teachers  and 
to  the  devotion  they  have  to  their  work. 

But  if  in  America  it  is  realized,  in  the  Philippine 
Islands  there  is  greater  reason  to  recognize,  that  — 

the  rock  toward  which  the  educational  ship  is  drifting  is 
the  financial  one.  You  and  I  must  educate  the  people  to 
believe  that  it  is  better  to  save  a  child  to  himself  before 
he  runs  into  the  reefs  of  his  life  than  it  is  to  expend  money 
on   police   courts,   jails,   and   juvenile   courts,   trying  to 


48         BARRIO  LIFE  AND  BARRIO  EDUCATION 

patch  him  up  and  protect  society  from  him  after  he  has 
been  wrecked.  The  pubHc  must  recognize  that  the 
greatest  asset  of  a  nation  is  her  boys  and  her  girls,  and 
that  instead  of  spending  too  much  money  today  on  offer- 
ing these  boys  and  girls  a  chance  at  their  better  and  bigger 
selves,  we  are  spending  all  too  little.  (11) 

SERVICE   OF   BARRIO   TEACHER   AND    SCHOOL 
TO   THE  COMMUNITY 

The  barrio  school  is  no  place  for  the  laggard  or  the 
weak-hearted.  The  barrio  teacher  often  hrs  to  live 
in  isolation,  culturally  and  professionally.  If  he  is 
stationed  in  a  more  or  less  inaccessible  place,  he  has 
little  chance  of  professional  assistance  from  a  superior 
source.  Only  the  teacher  who  is  willing  to  accept  the 
challenge  of  hard  and  trying  work  and  who  finds  joy 
in  individual  and  social  service  has  a  place  in  the 
barrio  school. 

The  work  of  the  barrio  teacher  is,  indeed,  an  ardu- 
ous one.  He  goes  to  school  early  to  put  up  his  black- 
board work  and  to  watch  the  conduct  of  the  pupils  in 
the  yard,  dropping  suggestions  here  and  there  and 
inculcating  lessons  of  good  behavior  as  occasions  arise. 
He  teaches  all  the  academic  subjects  for  the  grade  or 
grades  under  his  charge.  Forty  to  sixty  children  are 
turned  over  to  him  at  a  period  when  they  are  unable 
to  cope  with  the  experience  of  the  world.  When  they 
need  to  learn  to  read,  he  is  called  in;  when  they  need 
to  draw  or  write,  he  is  at  hand;  when  they  need  to 
cipher,  he  guides  them  through  the  intricacies  of  the 
process;  when  they  are  dirty  or  sick,  he  gives  them 
help  and  advice.  The  barrio  teacher  handles  also  the 
industrial  subjects.  Often  the  same  teacher  has  to 
teach  weaving,  basketry,  and  gardening  to  the  boys 


BARRIO  TEACHER  AND  BARRIO  SCHOOL   49 

and  plain  sewing  to  the  girls.  He  must  also  be  an 
athlete,  able  to  conduct  calisthenics  and  group  games, 
and  to  participate  in  baseball,  volley  ball,  or  other 
athletic  events.  He  stays  in  school  late  to  see  that  the 
school  and  premises  are  kept  clean.  Outside  school 
hours  he  visits  the  pupils  in  their  homes  to  ascertain 
the  number  of  fruit  trees  they  planted  or  to  see  that 
the  home  gardens  are  clean  and  well  cultivated.  At 
night  he  corrects  the  pupils'  work  and  writes  his 
lesson  plans.  On  Saturdays  he  attends  to  the  repair 
of  the  building  or  fence,  or  prepares  his  reports.  On 
Sundays  he  conducts  popular  meetings,  holds  literary 
programs,  or  delivers  civico-educational  lectures  deal- 
ing with  the  rights  and  duties  of  citizens,  the  preven- 
tion of  diseases,  rice  culture,  corn  cultivation,  coconut 
planting,  or  the  care  of  domestic  animals.  In  his  resi- 
dence the  teacher  is  frequently  visited,  and  he  imparts 
to  the  simple  folks,  but  willing  learners,  news  of  the 
Philippines  and  of  the  world,  precautions  in  times  of 
epidemics,  or  lessons  in  seed  selection  or  poultry  rais- 
ing. He  has  the  good  will  of  the  people  and  asks  their 
aid  in  constructing  outhouses,  repairing  the  school 
building,  or  beautifying  the  premises. 

Yet  the  very  difficulty  and  hardness  of  the  adverse 
conditions  constitute  a  challenge  to  the  heroic  element  in 
choice  natures.  The  obstacles  act  as  a  dare  to  the  spirit 
of  conquest  inherent  in  youth.  They  call  for  sacrifice, 
yet  offer  the  opportunity  for  the  testing  of  one's  powers 
and  for  the  winning  of  hard-earned  victories.  Man  at 
his  best  is  not  afraid  of  hardship  and  does  not  look  for  an 
easy  task.  The  spirit  of  conflict  deeply  rooted  in  human 
nature,  and  the  impulse  to  try  to  the  utmost  all  our  powers, 
prompt  us  to  measure  our  strength  against  difficulties 
that  appear  all  but  insuperable.     It  is  this  spirit  that 


/ 


50         BARRIO  LIFE  AND  BARRIO  EDUCATION 

explains  the  measure  of  success  that  has  attended  our 
rural  schools  even  under  such  discouraging  conditions. 
That  the  rural  school  has  proved  as  efficient  as  it  has,  is 
a  high  testimony  to  the  intelligence  and  resourcefulness 
of  our  young  men  and  women  who  have  begun  their 
careers  as  rural  school  teachers.  (12) 

The  preceding  discussion  makes  it  plain  that  the 
service  of  the  teacher  and  the  school  is  by  no  means 
confined  within  the  school  walls.  It  is  more  than  fur- 
thering the  physical,  moral,  intellectual,  and  economic 
efficiency  of  the  pupils;    it  is  community  uplift. 

Upon  the  agricultural  and  industrial  progress  of  the 
barrios  the  barrio  teacher  and  the  barrio  schools  are 
exerting  a  tremendous  influence.  One  of  the  tragedies 
of  the  education  of  old  was  that  many  a  farmer's  child 
was  sent  to  school  by  fond  parents  only  to  acquire 
some  dangerous  little  learning  and  some  customs  and 
conventions  which  made  him  feel  so  high  in  his  own 
estimation  that  after  his  schooling  he  could  no  longer 
stoop  down  low  enough  to  touch  the  handle  of  the 
plow.  The  education  of  today  is  not  for  the  purpose 
of  training  "ladies"  and  "gentlemen"  w^ho  consider 
themselves  superior  to  manual  labor.  The  barrio 
education  should  educate  barrio  children  for  the  farm, 
not  away  from  it.  In  proportion  as  the  barrio  child 
gets  an  education,  in  the  same  proportion  should  his 
value  as  an  economic  factor  increase. 

There  are  many  evidences  of  the  influence  of  the 
teacher  and  the  school  for  economic  betterment.  The 
lessons  in  plain  sewing,  cooking,  and  embroidery  given 
to  girls  enable  them  to  carry  on  profitable  activities  in 
the  home.  Many  parents  are  making  garments  after 
school   models.     One-piece   dresses   for   children   are 


BARRIO  TEACHER  AND  BARRIO  SCHOOL  51 

more  frequently  worn.  The  teaching  of  basketry 
enables  boys  to  have  some  secondary  industry  to  oc- 
cupy their  leisure  moments.  School-made  baskets  are 
now  used  to  a  much  greater  extent.  "The  fancy 
weaves  used  in  elementary  weaving  exercises  are 
beginning  to  be  seen  in  the  sawali  walls,  ceilings,  and 
window  shutters  of  homes."  (13)  The  work  in  school 
and  home  gardening,  the  organization  of  agricultural 
clubs  among  boys  and  girls  for  agricultural  and  home 
projects,  the  fruit-tree-growing  activities,  the  corn 
demonstrations  and  garden  days,  and  the  industrial 
exhibits  —  all  these  are  contributing  to  the  prosperity 
of  our  communities  to  an  extent  that  only  men 
who  have  been  identified  with  the  activities  can  ap- 
preciate. 

The  barrio  teacher  and  the  barrio  school  also  render 
effective  service  along  hygienic  and  sanitary  lines. 
Frequent  inspection  to  insure  cleanliness  is  carried  on 
among  pupils,  especially  those  in  the  lower  grades.  In 
cooperation  with  the  health  officers,  the  barrio  school 
facilitates  vaccination  among  the  children  and  the 
barrio  teacher  carries  on  medical  inspection  to  prevent 
the  spread  of  contagious  diseases.  The  school  out- 
houses are  not  infrequently  the  best  models  for  acces- 
sory buildings  in  the  barrios.  The  school  playground 
affords  space,  facility,  opportunity,  and  incentive  for 
the  expression  of  play  instincts  and  impulses.  The 
athletic  sports  aid  in  the  maintenance  and  improve- 
ment of  health.  Through  school  instruction  the  ad- 
visability of  using  boiled  water  for  drinking,  mosquito 
net  to  prevent  malaria,  and  well-cooked  foods  to 
avoid  cholera,  is  inculcated  in  the  minds  of  the  people. 
In  times  of  epidemic  the  school  is  the  best  and  quickest 


52         BARRIO  LIFE  AND  BARRIO  EDUCATION 

medium  for  distributing  health  leaflets  and  pamphlets 
and  for  imparting  the  instruction  on  precautions  to  be 
observed  and  on  measures  to  be  put  into  effect. 

COMMUNITY   SERVICE   TO   THE   SCHOOL 

The  conferring  of  benefits  is  not,  however,  wholly 
one-sided.  Progressive  communities  are  appreciative 
of  the  service  of  the  teacher  and  the  school,  and  the 
people  render  invaluable  assistance.  The  parents, 
realizing  that  schooling  is  the  chief  duty  of  childhood 
during  school  age,  send  their  children  to  school.  They 
desire  to  have  their  sons  and  daughters  well  housed, 
and  so  they  help  build  or  repair  the  schoolhouse.  In 
the  absence  of  municipal  funds  for  the  purchase  of  ade- 
quate school  sites,  land  is  in  many  instances  donated. 
When  additional  teachers  or  additional  desks  are 
needed  and  the  municipality  is  unable  to  furnish  the 
money,  the  barrio  people  contribute.  Interest  in 
school  matters  is  further  manifested  by  the  people  in 
their  visits  to  the  school  or  to  the  teacher,  in  their 
presence  at  athletic  meets  or  at  school  entertainments, 
or  in  furnishing  materials  and  money  which  are  neces- 
sary in  connection  with  the  industrial  and  academic 
classes.  In  these  and  in  many  other  ways  the  members 
of  wide-awake  communities  show  their  faith  in  edu- 
cation as  a  wise  and  profitable  investment. 

FOUR   PROPOSITIONS 

We  venture  to  make  four  propositions,  believing 
that  they  will  be,  if  followed,  contributive  to  the 
greater  happiness  and  efficiency  of  the  barrio  teacher 
and  to  the  improvement  of  the  barrio  school. 

We  suggest  the  adoption  on  the  part  of  administra- 


BARRIO  TEACHER  AND  BARRIO  SCHOOL        53 

live  school  officers  of  a  fairly  well-defined  policy  with 
respect  to  the  assignment  and  promotion  of  barrio 
teachers.  The  entrance  salary  should  be  determined 
upon,  depending,  of  course,  upon  the  training  and 
ability  of  the  applicant,  school  funds  available,  and 
location  of  the  school.  An  applicant  for  a  teaching 
position  who  plans  to  stay  at  least  two  years  in  the 
service  should  be  preferred.  A  new  barrio  teacher 
should  first  be  assigned  to  a  central  school  or  a  near-by 
barrio,  so  that  in  the  beginning  he  may  get  the  great- 
est possible  benefit  from  the  professional  assistance  of 
a  good  supervisory  officer.  After  a  year  or  so  of  satis- 
factory service,  he  may  be  made  principal  of  a  barrio 
school,  if  there  is  a  suitable  vacancy.  Success  as  a 
barrio  school  principal  should  be  rewarded  by  a  suit- 
able salary  increase,  if  possible,  or  by  promotion  to  a 
more  responsible  position  in  a  barrio  or  central  school. 
We  also  submit  for  thoughtful  consideration  the 
question  of  providing  a  barrio  teacher's  house.  In 
not  a  few  cases  barrio  teachers  do  not  long  remain 
in  their  stations,  because  of  inadequate  house  accom- 
modations. As  a  rule,  a  public  servant  gives  and  does 
his  best  when  he  is  more  or  less  happy  personally  and 
in  a  house.  The  barrio  teacher's  house  should  be 
better  than  the  average  house  in  the  barrio,  so  that  it 
may  have  an  unconscious  elevating  influence  upon 
the  people  in  the  community.  The  teacher  should 
live  in  a  manner  becoming  his  profession,  so  that  his 
home  life  may  have  an  influence  for  good  in  the  com- 
munity. This  proposition  is  not  a  mere  dream,  nor 
is  it  Utopian.  It  has  been  put  into  effect  in  many 
rural  districts  of  some  of  the  European  countries  and 
of  the  United  States.    It  was  tried  also  in  a  few  barrios 


54         BARRIO  LIFE  AND  BARRIO  EDUCATION 

of  the  Philippines.  One  of  these  experiments  was 
conducted  with  a  fair  degree  of  success  in  one  of  the 
barrio  schools  under  the  supervision  of  the  writer,  in 
La  Union,  and  will  be  dealt  with  in  some  detail  in  a 
later  chapter  (pages  100-101). 

The  next  proposition  has  to  do  with  the  training  of 
barrio  teachers.  We  urge  that  at  least  a  considera- 
tion of  the  barrio  school  problems,  if  a  separate  course 
cannot  be  given,  be  made  a  part  of  the  courses  in 
methods  or  education  in  schools  giving  normal  or 
educational  courses.  In  the  College  of  Education  of 
the  University  of  the  Philippines  the  students  should 
acquire  a  clear  insight  into  barrio  life  and  barrio  edu- 
cation, because  this  will  be  useful  especially  to  those 
who  are  to  go  out  in  a  supervisory  capacity.  In 
schools  giving  normal  courses,  a  course  in  barrio 
school  education  would  be  profitable,  especially  for 
those  who  are  to  become  principals  of  municipal 
schools.  In  addition  to  these  there  seems  to  be  a  need 
for  a  professional  normal  course  of  two  years'  duration 
beyond  the  intermediate  course,  for  the  training  of 
primary  teachers  and  especially  barrio  teachers.  The 
intermediate  teaching  courses  in  the  past  have  served 
a  useful  end.  The  two-year  teaching  course  here  pro- 
posed would  satisfy  a  positive  need.  It  is  obvious 
that  we  cannot  expect  a  normal  school  graduate  to 
be  content  as  a  barrio  municipal  teacher  with  our 
present  meager  finances.  The  intermediate  teaching 
courses  are  now  practically  abolished.  The  two-year 
normal  course  seems  to  be  the  logical  remedy.  It 
should  be  stated  here  that  the  Director  of  Education 
has  authorized  the  establishment  of  a  two-year  normal 
course  for  high  schools  that  do  not  have  the  full  four- 


BARRIO  TEACHER  AND  BARRIO  SCHOOL   55 

year  course.     Such  a  course  would  be  enriched  by  a 
greater  emphasis  on  the  barrio  school  question. 

Lastly,  we  venture  to  touch  upon  a  point  which 
may  be  deemed  premature  by  some;  namely,  the 
question  of  teachers'  pensions.  The  time  for  consider- 
ing this  problem  seriously  is  at  hand.  After  legis- 
lative measures  will  have  been  enacted,  materially 
increasing  our  funds,  definite  steps  should  be  taken 
toward  devising  an  equitable  system  of  rewarding 
faithful  employees  with  a  record  of  efficient  service  for 
a  period  of,  say  15  or  20  years.  Nothing  would  have  a 
tendency  to  attract  the  best  men  and  women  to  the 
profession  and  to  insure  a  greater  permanency  in  the 
tenure  of  teachers  than  a  satisfactory  pension  system 
which  would  assure  to  the  teachers  in  their  old  age  a 
just  reward  for  long  and  faithful  service.  (14) 

A  teacher's  creed 

In  the  last  chapter  we  closed  the  discussion  of  the 
education  of  the  barrio  child  with  creeds  for  boys  and 
girls.  To  make  the  creeds  complete  we  quote  Edwin 
Osgood  Grover's  creed,  consisting  of  seven  "I  believe's," 
deeming  it  appropriate  for  a  teacher's  creed: 

I  believe  in  boys  and  girls,  the  men  and  women  of  a 
great  tomorrow;  that  whatsoever  the  boy  soweth 
the  man  shall  reap.  I  believe  in  the  curse  of  igno- 
rance, in  the  efficacy  of  schools,  in  the  dignity  of 
teaching,  and  in  the  joy  of  serving  another.  I 
believe  in  wisdom  as  revealed  in  human  lives,  as 
well  as  in  the  pages  of  a  printed  book;  in  lessons 
taught  not  so  much  by  precept  as  by  example;  in 
ability  to  work  with  the  hands  as  well  as  to  think 
with  the  head;    in  everything  that  makes  life  large 


56         BARRIO  LIFE  AND  BARRIO  EDUCATION 

and  lovely.  I  believe  in  beauty  in  the  schoolroom, 
in  the  home,  in  daily  life,  and  out  of  doors.  I  be- 
lieve in  laughter,  in  love,  in  all  ideals  and  distant 
hopes  that  lure  us  on.  I  believe  that  every  hour 
of  every  day  we  receive  a  just  reward  for  all  we  are 
and  all  we  do.  I  believe  in  the  present  and  its 
opportunities,  in  the  future  and  its  promise,  and  in 
the  divine  joy  of  living.     Amen.  (15) 

Sources  of  Quotations  and  References 

(1)  Jagor,  Fedor.     Travels  in  the  Philippines,  p.  79  (in  Craig- 

Benitez,  Philippine  Progress  Prior  to  1898  and  The  Former 
Philippines  thru  Foreign  Eyes). 

(2)  .     Travels  in  the  Philippines,  pp.  145-146. 

(3)  Le  Roy,  James  A.     Philippine  Life  in  Town  and  Countrpy 

Ch.  Ill,  p.  44. 

(4)  Cubberley,  E.  p.     The  Improvement  of  Rural  Schoolsy  pp. 

36-37. 

(5)  Dewey,  John.    The  School  and  the  Child,  p.  47. 

(6)  .     The  School  and  the  Child,  pp.  46-47. 

(7)  Betts,  G.  H.    New  Ideals  in  Rural  Schools,  pp.  94-97. 

(8)  Cubberley,  E.  P.    Rural  Life  and  Education,  p.  283. 

(9)  Seventeenth  Annual  Report  of  the  Director  of  Education,  p.  12. 

(10)  Ihid.,  Table  No.  3,  p.  77. 

(11)  National   Education   Association   Addresses   and   Proceedings, 

Vol.  LIV,  p.  989. 

(12)  Betts,  G.  H.,  and  Hall,  Otis.     Better  Rural  Schools,  pp. 

119-120. 

(13)  The  Philippine  Craftsman,  Vol.  IV,  p.  446. 

(14)  Prosser,  C.  a.    The  Teacher  and  Old  Age. 

(15)  Quoted  in  Kern,  O.  J.    Among  Country  Schools,  p.  24. 

General  Bibliography 

1.  Cubberley,  E.  P.     Rural  Life  and  Education,  Ch.  XII. 

2.  Kern,  O.  J.    Among  Country  Schools,  Chs.  IX,  XI,  and  XIII. 

3.  Betts,  G.  H.,  and  Hall,  O.  E.    Better  Rural  Schools,  Part  III. 

4.  Sixteenth  Annual  Report  of  the  Director  of  Education. 

5.  Seventeenth  Annual  Report  of  the  Director  of  Education, 

6.  Jessup,  W.  a.    The  Teaching  Staff, 


BARRIO  TEACHER  AND  BARRIO  SCHOOL        57 

7.  Betts,  G.  H.    New  Ideals  in  Rural  Schools,  pp.  92-120. 

8.  Dewey,  John.     The  School  and  the  Child. 

9.  Ayres,  L.  p.,  and  Ayres,  May.    Health  Work  in  the  Public 

Schools. 

10.  CoFFMAN,  L.     The  Social  Composition  of  the  Teaching  Force. 

11.  Prosser,  C.  a.     The  Teacher  and  Old  Age. 


CHAPTER  FIVE 

The  Barrio  School  Curriculum 

In  the  previous  chapter  it  was  stated  that  one  of  the 
most  important  requisites  for  a  teacher,  if  he  is  to 
discharge  his  duties  effectively,  is  a  good,  thorough 
knowledge  of  the  subject  matter  of  instruction.  The 
basis  of  the  subject  matter  to  be  presented  to  the  child 
is  that  comprised  in  the  course  of  study  or  school 
curriculum. 

CURRICULUM   DEFINED 

What  is  the  curriculum?  In  the  broadest  sense  it 
is  the  sum  total  of  individual  and  social  experience 
worthy  of  transmission  and  perpetuation.  The  ele- 
mentary school  curriculum  is  that  part  of  this  wealth 
of  experience  which  is  selected  to  be  taught  to  chil- 
dren, through  the  agency  of  which  these  learners  be- 
come freer,  happier,  and  more  efficient  citizens. 

Society  offers  to  each  new  generation  the  aggregate 
fruits  of  its  own  achievements.  From  the  beginning  of 
human  history,  man  has  been  accumulating  culture  and 
civilization.  Out  of  the  daily  lives  of  the  millions  of 
peoples  of  all  times  —  out  of  their  toil  and  suffering,  their 
hopes  and  dreams  and  deeds,  have  come  some  permanent 
values.  Some  phases  of  experience  have  been  tried  and 
tested  until  they  have  been  found  typical  and  fundamental. 
Culture  and  civilization  consist  of  these  valuable  and 
more  or  less  permanent  aspects  of  social  experience.  (1) 

Dr.  Paul  Monroe  enlightens  us  on  the  question  by 
the  following  clear  presentation  of  the  curriculum  and 
its  function: 

As  interpreted  from  the  point  of  view  of  this  new  mean- 
ing of  education,  the  curriculum  is  no  longer  a  sacred 
inheritance,  possessing  absolute  and  permanent  validity, 

58 


THE  BARRIO  SCHOOL  CURRICULUM  59 

the  contents  of  which  the  child  must  master  in  order  to 
attain  to  an  education  and  to  be  admitted  to  the  charmed 
circle  of  the  cultured.  The  curriculum  becomes  but  the 
epitomized  representation  to  the  child  of  this  cultural 
inheritance  of  the  race,  —  of  those  products  of  human 
experience  which  yet  enter  into  the  higher  and  better  life 
of  man  and  which  the  present  generation  esteems  to  be 
of  value  to  the  individual  and  of  worth  to  society  as  a 
whole.  Such  an  appraisement  of  the  values  of  life  must 
change  from  generation  to  generation,  if  there  is  to  be 
progress  in  life;  if  life  in  the  present  has  any  value  in 
itself  beyond  mere  existence,  culture  cannot  be  the  same 
for  the  twentieth  century  that  it  was  for  the  eighteenth. 
The  formal  statement  of  the  elements  of  character  must 
remain  much  the  same;  the  concrete  content  must  vary 
as  life  varies.  The  curriculum  must  present  to  the  child 
in  idealized  form,  present  life,  present  social  activities, 
present  ethical  aspirations,  present  appreciation  of  the 
cultural  value  of  the  past.  Only  as  a  part  of  present  life, 
that  is  only  as  it  touches  the  present  life  of  the  child 
through  the  life  of  society,  can  it  call  forth  that  interest 
which  is  essential  to  the  educative  process.  Hence  ...  it 
appears  that  the  curriculum  must  be  adjusted  constantly, 
though  very  gradually,  so  as  to  reorganize  the  old  culture 
material  and  to  include  the  new.  The  curriculum  is  the 
child's  introduction  to  life,  as  schooling  is  the  preparation 
for  it.  The  curriculum,  then,  must  really  introduce  to 
life  as  it  is  and  as  it  should  be;  the  school  should  actually 
prepare.  (2) 

CONTROLLING   FACTORS 

An  adequate  curriculum  must  necessarily  take  into 
account  the  child's  needs,  capacities,  instincts,  and 
interests.  In  the  selection  and  elimination  of  sub- 
jects and  topics  for  the  curriculum  the  controlling 
factors  must  necessarily  be  (a)  the  psychological  and 
(b)  the  sociological.  Dr.  Payne,  in  his  Public  Ele- 
mentary School  Curriculum,  says : 


60         BARRIO  LIFE  AND  BARRIO  EDUCATION 

The  two  fundamental  questions  regarding  the  curriculum 
are,  first,  What  are  the  needs  of  the  civilization  in  which 
the  child  is  to  play  an  active  part?  and  second,  What  is 
the  nature  of  the  child  who  is  to  be  fitted  to  this  civili- 
zation? Briefly,  education  has  to  do  with  the  experience 
of  the  race  and  the  experience  of  the  child;  the  activities 
of  the  race  and  the  activities  of  the  child;  the  needs  of 
society  and  the  needs  of  the  child.  The  curriculum  must, 
then,  provide  for  the  sociological  and  the  psychological 
aspects  of  human  life.  (3) 

Professors  Dutton  and  Snedden  enumerate  eight 
principles  which  they  deem  applicable  to  the  making 
of  courses  of  study  for  elementary  schools. 

The  elementary  curriculum  [they  say]  should  be: 
(a)  related  to  life;  (6)  flexible,  according  to  the  charac- 
teristics of  groups  to  be  educated;  (c)  capable  of  utilizing 
the  social  and  natural  environment  of  the  child;  (d)  ad- 
justed so  as  to  provide  that  education  which  is  comple- 
mentary to  the  educative  influences  of  other  agencies; 
(e)  integrated  in  its  final  effects;  (/)  so  detailed  and 
flexible  as  to  permit  the  teacher  much  freedom,  while 
giving  fullest  guidance;  (g)  dynamic  or  progressive;  and 
(h)  adjusted  so  as  to  reflect  local  initiative  and  central 
control  and  approval.  (4) 

THE   PHILIPPINE   ELEMENTARY  CURRICULUM 

The  Bureau  of  Education  at  present  maintains 
courses  of  study  in  primary,  intermediate,  and  sec- 
ondary instruction.  In  the  barrio  schools  the  primary 
course  is  now  practically  the  only  course  taught.  In 
the  near  future,  however,  intermediate  schools  will 
undoubtedly  be  organized  in  the  larger  and  more  cen- 
trally located  barrios.  We  give  below  the  skeleton 
outlines  of  the  present  primary  course  of  study,  the 
general  intermediate  course,  the  Special  Farming 
Course,  and  the  Special  Housekeeping  and  Household 
Arts  Course.  (5) 


THE  BARRIO  SCHOOL  CURRICULUM 


61 


PRIMARY  COURSE 

(Figures  in  parentheses  indicate  the  number  of  recitations  a  week;  the  number 
is  Jive  unless  otherwise  stated.) 


Grade  I 

Grade  II 

Grade  III 

Grade  IV 

Language,     good 

Language,  good 

Language,  good 

Language,    good 

manners        and 

manners     and 

manners     and 

manners       and 

right  conduct 

right  conduct 

right  conduct 

right  conduct 

Conversational 

Conversational 

Conversational 

Conversational 

English  (7) 

English  (7) 

English 

English 

Reading    (includ- 

Reading (includ- 

Phonics 

Civics,      hygiene 

ing  phonics) 

ing  phonics) 

Reading 

and     sanitation 

Arithmetic 

Arithmetic 

Arithmetic 

(3)  _ 

Spelling    (2d    se- 

Spelling 

Spelling 

Reading  (includ- 

mester) 

Writing 

Writing 

ing  phonics) 

Writing 

Music 

Music 

Arithmetic 

Music 

Drawing  (3) 

Drawing  (2) 

Spelling 

Drawing  (3) 

Physical  educa- 

Home geography 

Writing  (2) 

Physical     educa- 

tion 

Physical  educa- 

Music (3) 

tion 

Industrial 

tion 

Drawing  (2) 

Industrial 

courses: 

Industrial 

Geography 

courses: 

Boys:  8 A,  8B, 

courses: 

Physical    educa- 

Boys:    8A,    or 

11  A,     26,  or 

Boys:  Any  one 

tion 

8B,  or  26  for 

club  work 

of  the  follow- 

Industrial 

the         larger 

Girls:      7     or 

ing:      9,     10, 

courses: 

boys 

club  work 

llA,    26,     or 

Boys:  Anyone 

Girls:     8 A,    or 

Time     —     40 

club  work 

of     the     fol- 

8B, or  7 

minutes  daily 

Girls:  7   (3),  1, 

lowing:    5,  9, 

For  very  small 

2,   4,     10,    or 

10,    any    ad- 

children stick, 

club  work  (2) 

vanced     bas- 

seed, and  peb- 

Time    —     60 

ketry,  20,  22, 

ble  laying  may 

minutes  daily 

23,     25,     26, 

be  employed 

27,  28,  or  club 

Time     —     30 

work 

minutes   daily 

Girls:  7  (2). 
and  any  one 
of  the  fol- 
lowing: 1,  2, 
3,  4,  6,  10, 
or  club  work 
(3) 

Time  —  60 
minutes  daily 

62         BARRIO  LIFE  AND  BARRIO  EDUCATION 
GENERAL  INTERMEDIATE  COURSE 


Grade  V 

Grade  VI 

Grade  VII 

Conversational       Eng- 

Conversational    Eng- 

Conversational      Eng- 

lish, composition,  and 

lish,  composition,  and 

lish,  composition,  and 

grammar 

grammar 

grammar 

Reading  and  spelling 

Reading  and  spelling 

Reading  and  spelling 

Arithmetic 

Arithmetic 

Arithmetic 

Music    ]  one  half 
Writing  J  period    each 

Music    1  one  half 
Writing  J  period  each 

Philippine  history  and 

government 

Geography 

Geography 

Physiology,  hygiene  and 

Drawing  (ID) 

Drawing  (ID) 

sanitation 

Industrial  courses: 

Industrial  courses: 

Drawing: 

Boys:  Any  one  of  the 

Boys:  26  or  club  work 

Boys:  (2D) 

following:  9,  10,  llB, 

(4D) 

Girls:  (ID) 

12B,   15,   16,   18,  20, 

Girls:     6A    and    6B 

Industrial     courses: 

23,  26,  or  club  work 

(lD),7(lD),andany 

Boys:    23 A,   or  23B, 

(4D) 

one  of  the  following: 

or  26,  or  club  work 

Girls:  6A  and  B  (ID), 

1,  2,  4,  or  club  work 

(3D) 

7  (ID),  and  any  one 

(2D) 

Girls:     6A    and    6B 

of  the  following:    1, 

(ID),    and   any   one 

2,    4,    or   club   work 

of  the  following:    1, 

(2D) 

2,    4,    21,    or    club 
work  (2D) 

D  —  double  or  eighty-minute  period.) 
FARMING  COURSE 


Grade  V 


Conversational  Eng- 
lish, composition,  and 
grammar 

Reading  and  spelling 

Arithmetic 

Agriculture 

Farmwork  (3  consecu- 
tive    periods      daily) 

Drawing,  carpentry, 
ironworking,  and  re- 
pair work  on  rainy 
days  or  when  neces- 
sary 


Grade  VI 


Conversational  Eng- 
lish, composition,  and 
grammar 

Reading  and  spelling 

Arithmetic 

Agriculture 

Farmwork  (3  consecu- 
tive   periods     daily) 

Drawing,  carpentry, 
ironworking,  and  re- 
pair work  on  rainy 
days  or  when  neces- 
sary 


Grade  VII 


Conversational  Eng- 
lish, composition,  and 
grammar 

Reading  and  spelling 

Arithmetic 

Agriculture 

Farmwork  (3  consecu- 
tive periods  daily) 

Drawing,  carpentry, 
ironworking,  and  re- 
pair work  on  rainy 
days  or  when  neces- 
sary 


THE  BARRIO  SCHOOL  CURRICULUM  63 

HOUSEKEEPING  AND  HOUSEHOLD  ARTS  COURSE 


Grade  V 

Grade  VI 

Grade  VII 

Conversational       Eng- 

Conversational    Eng- 

Conversational      Eng- 

lish, composition,  and 

lish,  composition,  and 

lish,  composition,  and 

grammar 

grammar 

grammar 

Reading  and  spelling 

Reading  and  spelling 

Reading  and  spelling 

Arithmetic 

Arithmetic 

Arithmetic 

Geography 

Hygiene     and     home 

Hygiene  and  home  san- 

Music (2) 

sanitation  (4) 

itation  (3) 

Drawing  (ID) 

Music  (2) 

Philippine  history 

Industrial  courses: 

Drawing  (ID) 

Music  (2) 

6 A  and  6B,  (2D);    7, 

Industrial  courses: 

Drawing  (ID) 

(ID);   and  any  one  of 

6Aand6B  (2D);  and 

Industrial  courses: 

the  following:    1,  2 A, 

1,  or  2,  or  4,  or  10, 

6A  and  6B   (2D);    7 

2B,  3,  4A,  4B,  27,  28, 

or  21,  or  club  work 

(ID);     and    any    one 

or  club  work  (2D) 

(2D) 

of   the   following:     1, 
2A,   2B,  4A,   4B,   21 

or  28,  (2D) 

OURS  A   LIVING  CURRICULUM 

Professor  Cubberley,  in  The  Portland  Survey,  de- 
fines a  living  curriculum  as  distinguished  from  a  dead 
one  in  the  following  words; 

A  living  curriculum,  while  it  may  be,  and  for  the  most 
part  should  be,  broadly  outlined  on  paper,  has  its  real 
existence  in  the  mind  of  teachers,  principals,  and  super- 
visors; it  is  plastic  and  adaptable,  constantly  undergoing 
changes  in  emphasis  of  its  various  parts,  even  to  the 
elimination  of  some  entirely  and  the  substitution  of  others, 
as  the  sympathetically  studied  needs  of  the  particular 
children  to  be  taught  seem  to  require;  the  living  curriculum 
ministers  practically  to  the  ever  and  almost  infinitely  vary- 
ing needs  of  boys  and  girls,  no  two  of  whom  were  made 
alike  or  destined  to  be  made  alike;  the  living  curriculum 
serves  as  readily  and  as  well  the  child  whose  mental 
processes  depend  on  concrete  things,  as  that  one  who 
readily  grasps  abstract  ideas;  the  Uving  curriculum  serves 


e4         BARRIO  LIFE  AND  BARRIO  EDUCATION 

present  needs  of  every  pupil,  whether  those  needs  be  the 
preparation  for  the  next  steps  that  will  lead  in  due  time 
through  a  college  preparatory  course  to  college,  uni- 
versity, and  a  professional  career,  or  whether  those  needs 
are  for  skill  of  hand  that  will  enable  a  youth  to  support 
himself  honorably,  within  a  year,  by  rendering  some  worthy 
service  to  the  community.    (6) 

EVOLUTION   OF   OUR  CURRICULUM 

The  Philippine  public  school  curriculum  has  under- 
gone a  process  of  evolution.  There  have  been  con- 
stant changes  in  emphasis  of  its  various  parts,  even 
to  the  complete  elimination  and  substitution  of  entire 
subjects  of  instruction.  A  brief  discussion  of  the  evolu- 
tion of  our  curriculum  will  show  that  ours  is  essen- 
tially a  living  curriculum,  not  a  dead  one. 

The  primary  course  of  study  as  organized  under  the 
American  occupation  was  three  years  in  length,  from 
the  beginning  to  the  year  1907.  Fred  W.  Atkinson, 
the  first  General  Superintendent  of  Public  Instruction, 
in  1901  had  the  following  to  say  with  respect  to  the 
elementary  subjects  of  instruction: 

The  subjects  of  study  for  the  Elementary  Schools  may 
embrace  reading,  writing,  grammar,  arithmetic,  geography, 
history,  physiology,  music,  drawing,  physical  exercise, 
manual  training,  and  nature  studies.  Instruction  in  the 
English  language  shall  take  first  place.  Teachers  are 
forbidden  to  teach  any  study  not  authorized  in  public 
schools  during  the  legal  school  hours.   (7) 

In  October,  1901,  nature  study  was  prescribed  as 
an  elementary  school  subject.  The  aim  of  the  subject 
was  "to  develop  in  the  child  a  love  for  the  world  in 
which  he  lives,  an  appreciation  of  its  adaptation  to  the 
needs  of  life,  the  universal  presence  of  natural  laws, 


THE  BARRIO  SCHOOL  CURRICULUM  65 

and  some  acquaintance  with  their  way  of  working; 
also  a  partial  knowledge  of  how  the  world  in  which  he 
lives  may  best  serve  him."     (8) 

On  January  31,  1907,  the  proposed  lengthening  of 
the  primary  course  from  three  to  four  years  was  sub- 
mitted for  consideration,  by  the  Director  of  Educa- 
tion, to  division  superintendents.  (9)  The  proposi- 
tion of  giving  greater  definiteness  to  the  industrial 
courses  was  also  then  taken  up.  After  thorough  dis- 
cussion and  due  deliberation  the  proposed  changes 
with  amendments  were  adopted.  In  General  Circular 
No.  51,  s.  1907,  dated  June  10,  1907,  the  lengthening 
of  the  primary  course  from  three  years  to  four  years 
was  definitely  promulgated,  the  industrial  courses  took 
a  more  definite  form,  and  the  course  of  study  for  pri- 
mary schools  was  revised  and  briefly  outlined.  The 
first  three  paragraphs  of  the  circular  mentioned  above 
are  here  reproduced: 

Experience  of  the  past  three  years  has  clearly  demon- 
strated the  necessity  of  modifying  somewhat  the  first 
three  years  of  the  course  of  study  as  previously  outlined 
and  of  lengthening  the  time  devoted  thereto  to  four  years. 
This  has  been  made  necessary  by  the  creation  of  the 
demand  for  instruction  along  industrial  lines  and  the 
desirability  of  making  the  primary  course  complete  in 
itself  rather  than  merely  a  step  preliminary  to  the  inter- 
mediate course.  It  is  believed  that  the  pupil  who  attends 
school  with  regularity  and  pursues  his  studies  with  fidelity 
will  be  able  to  complete  the  course  as  herein  prescribed 
within  the  time  allotted. 

The  aim  of  instruction  in  the  primary  course  is  to 
prepare  the  child  to  become  an  intelligent,  self-supporting 
citizen.  His  knowledge  of  English,  arithmetic,  and  com- 
mercial transactions  should  be  sufiicient  to  enable  him  to 
transact  all  of  the  business  he  may  have,  in  this  language.  . 


66         BARRIO  LIFE  AND  BARRIO  EDUCATION 

He  should  be  conversant  with  the  general  rights  and 
privileges  of  a  citizen  and  the  corresponding  duties  which 
citizenship  enjoins.  In  addition  to  this,  he  should  leave 
school  with  the  habit  of  work  definitely  fixed  and  with  the 
feeling  that  manual  labor  is  eminently  respectable  and 
honorable.  He  should  have  acquired  a  fair  knowledge  of 
some  simple  trade  or  handicraft,  and  of  the  hygiene  and 
sanitation  of  the  home  and  village.  The  course  should  at 
all  times  take  a  practical  trend  along  commercial  and 
industrial  lines,  without  detracting  from  the  emphasis  to 
be  placed  upon  English,  arithmetic,  geography,  and  other 
academic  subjects. 

The  value  of  industrial  training  lies  in  the  cultivation 
of  a  habit  of  work,  the  removal  of  prejudices  against  all 
forms  of  manual  labor,  the  development  of  manual  dex- 
terity and  the  mental  awakening  that  accompanies  it, 
and  the  introduction  of  new  trades  and  industries,  as  well 
as  the  improvement  of  the  old.  (10) 

In  1908  three  instructors  were  detailed  to  instruct 
teachers  to  teach  weaving  at  Normal  Institutes. 
That  same  year  industrial  work  in  weaving  was  pre- 
scribed definitely  for  primary  grades.   (11) 

Dr.  David  P.  Barrows,  then  Director  of  Education, 
in  Circular  No.  70,  s.  1909,  dated  July  16,  1909,  an- 
nounced the  differentiation  of  the  intermediate  courses 
of  study.  The  various  intermediate  courses  prescribed 
were  the  general  course,  the  course  for  teaching,  the 
course  for  farming,  the  course  for  woodwork,  the 
course  for  housekeeping  and  household  arts,  and  the 
course  for  business.  "The  Intermediate  School  was 
separated  from  the  Primary  School  Course  in  order  to 
give  it  a  distinct  and  practical  character."  (12) 

Director  Frank  R.  White  on  December  17,  1909,  in 
the  opening  paragraph  of  the  circular  entitled  "Organ- 
ization of  Industrial  Instruction,"  stated; 


THE  BARRIO  SCHOOL  CURRICULUM  67 

The  most  important  piece  of  work  now  before  this 
office  is  the  organization,  promotion,  and  proper  super- 
vision of  industrial  instruction.  For  several  years  past 
various  lines  of  industrial  work  have  been  officially  pre- 
scribed for  Primary  and  Intermediate  grades  and  much 
has  been  done  in  all  school  divisions  pursuant  to  these 
requirements  of  the  Course  of  Study.  (13) 

The  industrial  division  of  the  General  Office  was 
also  created. 

THE   BARRIO  CURRICULUM  AND   BARRIO  LIFE 

We  have  long  outgrown  the  day  when  bare  literacy 
was  considered  a  sufficient  measure  of  education 
for  the  barrio  population.  Opportunities  have  become 
greater,  and  demands  have  become  more  pressing  that 
we  must  go  farther  and  see  that  the  barrio  school  cur- 
riculum is  rich  enough  to  be  instrumental  in  adjusting 
the  barrio  child  to  a  freer,  happier,  and  more  efficient 
life.  The  studies  should  in  reality  "represent  selec- 
tions and  formulations  of  what  is  regarded  as  most 
important  in  the  experience  of  the  race,  and  hence 
most  necessary  to  transmit  for  the  sake  of  the  future 
society."  (14)  Especially  for  those  barrio  children 
who  cannot  long  stay  in  the  schools  it  is  necessary  to 
lay  stress  upon  those  subjects  that  relate  to  life  and 
upon  the  topics  of  each  subject  of  study  that  would 
best  minister  to  the  successful  adjustment  of  the 
barrio  child  to  his  physical,  mental,  moral,  and  social 
environment.  There  is  probably  greater  need  of 
emphasis  upon  utility  in  the  barrio  school  than  in 
any  other  type  of  school.  Surely  no  one  should  take 
exception  to  any  reasonable  and  successful  movement 
tending  to  give  a  greater  economic  trend  to  barrio 
education.     The  school  work  needs  to  be  vitalized, 


68         BARRIO  LIFE  AND  BARRIO  EDUCATION 

the  course  of  study  needs  to  be  enriched,  and  methods 
of  teaching  need  to  be  improved  in  order  that  the 
pupils  may  see,  understand,  and  appreciate  the  close 
relation  between  what  is  learned  in  school  and  what 
life  requires  of  them  outside  school. 

THE   SUBJECTS  AND   SOME   GUmiNG   PRINCIPLES 

This  is  not  the  place  to  outline  the  barrio  school 
curriculum  by  subjects.  The  studies  have  already 
been  indicated  in  the  skeleton  outlines  of  courses 
deemed  most  adequate  for  the  barrio.  A  few  com- 
ments will  be  given,  merely  to  emphasize  the  idea  that 
it  is  highly  important  and  desirable  that  the  curric- 
ulum for  barrio  schools  be  aimed  directly  at  the  con- 
ditions of  the  best  barrio  life  in  order  that  the  most 
ejffective  adaptation  may  be  secured. 

The  published  primary  and  intermediate  courses 
of  study  of  the  Bureau  of  Education  outline  in  con- 
siderable detail  the  academic  subjects  in  the  cur- 
riculum. Pertinent  suggestions  to  teachers  also  are 
given.  These  are  readily  accessible  to  the  teachers  of 
the  public  schools.  No  formal  discussion  of  the  tra- 
ditional subjects  of  study  will  be  given  here.  All 
that  we  wish  to  say  about  them  is  that  there  is  neces- 
sity of  redirecting  and  revitalizing  instruction  in 
them;  that  the  teachers  must  study  the  barrio  child 
and  barrio  social  life  in  order  to  know  how  to  em- 
phasize the  subjects,  and  topics  within  each  subject, 
to  the  end  that  what  is  taught  may  function  in  the 
life  of  the  learner  and  in  the  life  of  the  community; 
and  that  much  useless  matter  should  be  eliminated, 
the  aims  of  instruction  in  some  of  the  subjects  should 
be  entirely  changed,  and  the  subjects  should  be  re- 


THE  BARRIO  SCHOOL  CURRICULUM  69 

duced  to  their  proper  place  in  the  curriculum.  In 
short,  the  academic  studies  should  be  taught  in  such 
a  way  that  their  natural  relation  to  home  life  and 
farm  activities  is  brought  out.  With  these  general 
principles  let  us  touch  upon  civics,  hygiene  and  sani- 
tation, athletics,  industrial  work,  and  agriculture. 

The  modern  view  of  civics  may  be  understood  from 
the  following  quotations:  (15) 

Civics  is  a  training  in  habits  of  good  citizenship,  rather 
than  merely  a  study  of  government  forms  and  machinery. 
The  broadening  field  of  instruction  in  civics  finds  its 
limits  only  in  the  ever-widening  content  of  the  term 
"citizenship." 

There  are,  in  general,  four  immediate  aims  in  teaching 
civics : 

To  help  the  child  realize  that  he  is  a  responsible  and 
helpful  member  of  several  social  groups.  .  .  . 

To  awaken  and  stimulate  motives  that  will  lead  to 
the  establishment  of  habits  of  order,  cleanliness,  cheer- 
ful cooperation,  sympathetic  service,  and  obedience  to 
law.  .  .  . 

To  emphasize  the  intimate  and  reciprocal  relation  be- 
tween the  welfare  of  the  individual  and  the  welfare  of  the 
home  and  society.  ... 

To  develop  political  intelligence  and  to  prepare  the 
young  citizen  for  its  exercise.  .  .  . 

It  is  apparent  that  much  of  the  teaching  in  civics 
is  accomplished  indirectly.  When  a  child  actively 
participates  in  cleaning  the  school  and  premises;  when 
he  goes  to  school  with  face  washed,  hair  combed,  and 
finger  nails  trimmed;  when  he  helps  construct  a  fence; 
when  he  assists  in  repairing  a  broken  wall,  bench,  or 
gate;  when  he  cultivates  his  garden  in  the  school  and 
at  home;  when  a  girl  sews  her  own  or  her  little  brother's 
or  sister's  dress;   when  she  helps  boil  water  for  drink- 


70         BARRIO  LIFE  AND  BARRIO  EDUCATION 

ing,  or  cooks  rice  well;  when  a  pupil  conveys  informa- 
tion to  his  parents  or  friends  regarding  preventive 
measures  that  should  be  followed  during  cholera  or 
other  epidemics;  when  he  is  taught  to  pick  up  a  pail 
of  water  to  help  combat  a  fire;  when  he  trims  the 
hedge,  mows  the  lawn,  or  plants  a  tree  —  when  a  child 
does  these  or  similar  acts,  he  is  indirectly  but  effectively 
learning  invaluable  lessons  in  civics.  These  indirect 
methods,  supplemented  by  the  direct  teaching  of 
civics,  are  desirable  ways  and  means  of  training  junior 
citizens  for  intelligent  citizenship. 

HYGIENE  AND   SANITATION 

One  of  the  fundamental  subjects  to  be  taught 
barrio  boys  and  girls  is  hygiene  and  sanitation.  Health 
is  basic.  It  is,  therefore,  imperative  to  teach  the 
science  of  health  in  a  practical  manner  in  the  barrio 
schools. 

The  following  excerpt  defines  in  simple  terms  what 
hygiene  is  and  tells  how  it  differs  from  anatomy  and 
physiology:  (16) 

Anatomy,  physiology,  and  hygiene.  In  this  book,  we 
shall  study  the  parts  of  the  body  and  the  way  they  are 
joined  together.  This  is  anatomy.  We  shall  study  also 
the  work  that  these  parts  do.  This  is  physiology.  We 
shall  study  also  how  to  take  care  of  the  body  so  that  it 
will  not  become  sick.    This  is  hygiene. 

Hygiene,  like  civics,  may  be  taught  directly  and 
indirectly.  Proper  teaching  of  this  subject  is  not  so 
much  a  matter  of  pouring  in  a  great  deal  of  informa- 
tion as  a  process  of  thinking,  acting,  doing,  and  living. 
The  chief  aim  is  to  foster  the  formation  of  hygienic 
habits  and  to  impart  such  knowledge  of  the  subject 


THE  BARRIO  SCHOOL  CURRICULUM  71 

as  will  make  hygienic  living  intelligible.  It  is  far  more 
important  for  a  girl  to  make  a  mosquito  net  and  to 
use  it  when  sleeping  than  it  is  for  her  to  know  the 
different  varieties  of  mosquitoes,  their  stages  of  de- 
velopment, and  all  the  theories  about  malaria.  It 
is  more  desirable  that  a  boy  dig  a  ditch  around  his 
home  and  fill  up  holes,  in  order  to  have  proper  drainage, 
than  that  he  pass  an  examination  on  the  subject.  If 
actual  doing  accompanies  as  much  as  possible  the 
book  learning  in  hygiene,  the  fundamental  aims  will 
be  more  effectively  realized. 

ATHLETICS 

In  1916  the  United  States  Commissioner  of  Edu- 
cation reported  that  "investigations  made  during 
the  year  have  driven  home  the  fact  that  rural  children 
are  more  in  need  of  health  supervision  than  city 
children."  Dr.  Thomas  D.  Wood  of  Columbia  Uni- 
versity, after  investigations  conducted  in  several 
localities  and  for  a  number  of  years,  was  forced  to 
conclude  that  "country  children  are  less  healthy  than 
city  children."  The  State  Commissioner  of  Health 
for  Oklahoma  once  said:  "Carefully  compiled  sta- 
tistics gathered  from  different  parts  of  the  country 
show  that  in  every  health  item  the  country  child  is 
more  defective  than  the  city  child,  a  most  surprising 
reversal  of  popular  opinion.  More  than  twice  as  many 
country  children  as  city  children  suffer  from  mal- 
nutrition; the  former  are  also  more  anaemic,  have  more 
lung  trouble,  and  include  more  mental  defectives  than 
do  the  latter."  The  Minnesota  Health  Commission 
reports  that  "tuberculosis  is  increasing  in  the  country 
because  country  people  are  not  fighting  it  as  effectively 


72        BARRIO  LIFE  AND  BARRIO  EDUCATION 

as  city  people."  (17)  Our  own  sanitary  commissions 
have  found  deplorable  health  conditions  in  towns 
where  investigations  have  been  conducted.  Condi- 
tions in  most  barrios  are  as  a  rule  worse  than  in  towns. 
The  schools  should  cooperate  in  improving  health  con- 
ditions, not  only  through  teaching  hygiene  and  sanita- 
tion, but  by  a  more  conscientious  compliance  with  the 
Bureau  of  Education  program  of  games  and  athletics. 

INDUSTRIAL   WORK 

The  barrio  school  exists  primarily  to  assist  children 
to  meet  their  physical,  intellectual,  moral,  social, 
aesthetic,  and  economic  needs.  Industrial  arts  and 
industrial  work  are  a  great  factor  in  realizing  this  goal 
and  consequently  should  have  a  prominent  place  in 
the  curriculum.  The  industrial  program  is  designed 
to  furnish  the  child  industrial  intelligence,  industrial 
skill,  and  industrial  sympathy.  The  industrial  train- 
ing of  a  child  helps  him,  in  part,  to  place  himself  upon 
an  economic  plane  slightly  above  the  plane  of  mere 
self-support.  This  is  true  directly  and  indirectly  — 
directly  when  the  vocation  which  the  child  later 
chooses  is  based  upon  the  industrial  training  secured, 
and  indirectly  when  the  avocation  he  pursues  is  closely 
allied  to  the  industrial  work  pursued  in  school. 

The  present  industrial  courses  are  so  numerous  and 
so  important  that  it  is  necessary  to  devote  a  separate 
chapter  to  them.  The  chapter  on  vocational  educa- 
tion which  follows  will  deal  at  greater  length  with  the 
vocational  phase  of  barrio  education.  The  writer  only 
wishes  to  record  here  now  his  conviction  as  to  the 
necessity  and  efficacy  of  domestic  science  for  barrio 
girls  and  agricultural  work  for  barrio  boys  in  the  at- 


THE  BARRIO  SCHOOL  CURRICULUM  73 

tempt  to  make  barrio  education  function  in  barrio 
life. 

When  barrio  intermediate  schools  do  spring  up,  as 
they  surely  will  in  the  future,  it  is  hoped  that  ef- 
ficient training  in  housekeeping  and  household  arts 
will  be  offered  barrio  girls  in  model  domestic  science 
homes.  The  barrio  home  and  barrio  home  life  should 
be  duplicated  in  somewhat  ideahzed  form.  The  im- 
provement of  native  foods  and  processes  of  prepara- 
tion and  preserving  of  foodstuffs  should  be  given  first 
attention.  Such  activities  as  sewing,  cleaning,  decorat- 
ing, beautifying  premises,  care  of  babies,  etc.,  should 
also  receive  emphasis.  Where  conditions  are  favorable, 
serious  thought  on  the  part  of  the  teachers  and  ad- 
ministrators should  be  paid  to  the  advisability  of  giving 
extension  courses  to  women,  young  and  old,  in  the 
barrio  communities.  It  is  highly  desirable  that  the 
mothers  be  afforded  opportunities  for  advancement,  if 
the  standard  of  living  in  barrio  homes  is  to  be  raised. 

In  Denmark  smallhold  schools  have  been  established 
and  have  done  much  to  make  the  lot  of  the  small- 
holders more  tolerable  and  their  work  more  profitable. 
The  purpose  of  these  schools,  in  the  language  of  the 
founder,  is  "to  prepare  leaders  who  shall  make  the 
life  of  the  Danish  husmand  so  honored  and  recog- 
nized that  the  young  sons  and  daughters  of  these 
homes  will  gladly  choose  this  calling  in  preference 
to  city  life."  (18) 

Some  such  purpose  should  also  animate  those  di- 
rectly concerned  with  the  uplift  of  our  barrio  popula- 
tion in  the  Philippine  Islands.  To  do  this,  effective 
training  in  school  and  home  gardening  and  in  agricul- 
ture is  essential.    Barrio  pupils,  especially  the  children 


74         BARRIO  LIFE  AND  BARRIO  EDUCATION 

of  the  poor,  should  be  instructed  in  intensive  scientific 
farming  and  in  better  methods  of  working.  The 
auxiliaries  of  agriculture,  such  as  poultry  raising,  the 
raising  of  other  domestic  animals,  fruit  raising,  etc., 
should  be  given  due  attention.  In  this  connection  the 
following  excerpt  from  a  well- written  article  on  "The 
Use  of  Raw  Materials  in  Teaching  Agriculture"  will 
be  helpful:  (19) 

Because  agriculture  is  such  an  important  factor  in  the 
economic  life  of  the  nation,  it  furnishes  the  basis  for  a 
thoroughly  national  education  for  all  who  come  in  contact 
with  it,  viz.,  an  education  for  service.  Men  have  spent 
themselves  without  stint  to  enlarge  the  body  of  agri- 
cultural knowledge  and  to  discover  the  principles  of  this 
important  science  for  the  benefit  of  the  race.  If  the  work 
accomplished  by  the  investigator  is  to  bear  abundant 
fruit,  it  must  be  given  by  instruction  to  the  waiting 
multitude.  Thus  the  place  of  the  teacher  of  agriculture 
has  been  made  for  him. 

You  will  agree  with  me  when  I  say  that  today  the 
teaching  of  agriculture  is  not  all  we  could  wish.  There  is 
something  lacking  in  the  way  it  comes  to  our  young  people. 
It  interests  them  in  a  measure,  but  does  not  grip  their 
minds  with  tremendous  power.  They  like  it  in  a  mild 
way  for  the  most  part,  where  there  should  be  the  most 
enthusiastic  love  for  it.  The  whole  relation  between  the 
student  and  his  study  lacks  a  vital  something  to  make  it 
virile  and  gripping  and  real. 

Agriculture  must  be  taught  through  its  raw  materials, 
and  in  the  field  if  possible.  But  our  teachers  have  learned 
to  teach  bookwise.  They  must  learn  to  teach  agriculture 
from  the  things  of  agriculture;  to  read  in  the  soil  the 
story  of  the  creation  and  support  of  living  forms  upon  the 
earth,  and  the  work  of  all  forces  that  have  made  them; 
to  search  out  from  the  ear  of  corn  its  own  story  of  its 
present  state  of  perfection,  with  the  reasons  therefor;   to 


THE  BARRIO  SCHOOL  CURRICULUM  75 

dig  out  the  great  truth  of  the  potatoes  from  the  pota- 
toes themselves;  to  learn  to  question  nature's  products 
and  read  correctly  her  answers  concerning  their  being, 
Whence?  How?  Why?  Until  we  do  this,  the  greatest 
opportunity  to  teach  life  lessons  and  educate  for  service 
through  service  lies  unused  at  our  hand. 

Sources  of  Quotations  and  References 

(1)  Betts,  G.  H.    Social  Principles  of  Education,  Ch.  X. 

(2)  Monroe,  Paul.    History  of  Education,  p.  756. 

(3)  See  pages  182-183. 

(4)  Administration    of   Public    Education   in   the    United   States^ 

pp.  325-326. 

(5)  Service  Manual,  Bureau  of  Edux;ation,  1917,  Ch.  II. 

(6)  The  P&rtland  Survey,  p.  128. 

(7)  General  Circular  No.  3,  s.  1901. 

(8)  General  Circular  No.  10,  s.  1901. 

(9)  General  Circular  No.  11,  s.  1907. 

(10)  General  Circular  No.  51,  s.  1907. 

(11)  General  Circular  No.  100,  s.  1908. 

(12)  General  Circular  No.  70,  s.  1909. 

(13)  General  Circular  No.  135,  s.  1909. 

(14)  Cyclopedia  of  Education,  Vol.  II,  p.  219. 

(15)  Dunn,  Arthur  W.    Civic  Education  in  Elementary  Schools  as 

Illustrated  in  Indianapolis. 

(16)  RiTCHiE-PuRCELL.    Sanitation  and  Hygiene  for  the  Tropics. 

(17)  Duke,  E.  A.    A  Guide  to  Better  Schools,  p.  26. 

(18)  FoGHT,  H.  W.    Rural  Denmark  and  Its  Schools,  pp.  174-175. 

(19)  Welles,  W.  S.    The  Use  of  Raw  Materials  in  Teaching  Agri- 

culture.   N.  E.  A.,  1914. 


General  Bibliography 

1.  Course  of  Study  f&r  Primary  Grades,  with  Suggestions  to  Teachers. 

Bureau  of  Education. 

2.  Course  of  Study  for  Intermediate  Grades,  with  Suggestions  to 

Teachers.     Bureau  of  Education. 

3.  Course  of  Study  for  the  Elementary  School.     Western  Illinois 

State  Normal  School,  Macomb,  Illinois. 

4.  The  Curriculum  ar.d  Courses  of  Study  of  the  Speyer  School. 

Teachers  College,  Columbia  University,  New  York. 


76         BARRIO  LIFE  AND  BARRIO  EDUCATION 

5.  The    Elementary    School    Curriculum,    Horace    Mann    School. 

Teachers  College,  Columbia  University,  New  York. 

6.  Manual  of  the  Elementary  Course  of  Study  for  the  Common 

Schools  of  Wisconsin. 

7.  Payne,  Bruce  R.    Public  Elementary  School  Curricula. 

8.  DuTTON  and  Snedden.     Administration  of  Public  Education 

in  the  United  States. 

9.  McMuRRY,  Charles  A.    Course  of  Study  in  the  Eight  Grades, 

10.  FoGHT,  H.  W.    Rural  Denmark  and  Its  Schools. 

11.  Duke,  E.  A.    A  Guide  to  Better  Schools. 

12.  Bonser,  F.  G.     The  Elementary  School  Curriculum. 

13.  Meriam,  J.  L.    Child  Life  and  the  Curriculum. 

14.  Dewey,  John.    The  School  and  the  Child. 


CHAPTER  SIX 

Vocational  Education 

"Vocational  education"  is  a  term  that  may  be  used 
in  a  broad  sense  or  in  a  narrow  sense.  In  a  compre- 
hensive way  the  term  includes  all  education  which 
makes  for  any  particular  calling  or  "vocation."  It  is 
all  education  that  makes  for  definite  life  work.  In  a 
more  restricted  meaning  the  term  includes  all  educa- 
tion relating  to  industries  and  "in  this  sense  would 
include  instruction  in  industrial  arts  in  the  elementary 
school,  trade  and  technical  instruction  designed  for 
the  industrial  worker,  and  the  professional  education 
of  the  engineering  schools."  (1)  It  is  all  education 
that  makes  for  definite  industrial  calling. 

Although,  strictly  speaking,  all  efficient  education  is 
vocational  in  that  it  fits  one  for  a  more  satisfactory 
performance  of  life  activities,  popular  usage  ordinarily 
makes  vocational  education  synonymous  with  indus- 
trial education,  due  no  doubt  to  the  fact  that  the 
direct  application  of  knowledge  and  skill  acquired  is 
more  easily  observable  and,  more  frequently  observed 
in  the  industrial  vocations  than  in  the  professional 
vocations.  Vocational  education  is  really  broader 
than  industrial  education. 

In  our  complex  civilized  societies,  the  vocations  are 
so  many  and  so  varied  that  it  is  difficult  to  make 
accurate  and  satisfactory  classifications  of  the  activities 
in  which  people  are  engaged.  Due  to  a  lack  of  well- 
defined  and  commonly  accepted  bases  of  classifications, 
"there  are  some  vocations  that  are  differently  classified 
by  different  persons,  and  there  are  others  that  are  not 
definitely  classified,  or  are  given  doubtful  classifica- 

77 


78         BARRIO  LIFE  AND  BARRIO  EDUCATION 

tion."  Certain  writers  call  industrial  workers  those 
who  belong  to  the  vocations  that  deal  entirely  with 
materials  or  material  things  in  the  production  of 
articles  for  man's  use;  commercial  workers,  those 
engaged  in  vocations  having  for  their  chief  object  the 
distribution  of  the  products  of  the  industries;  and 
professional  workers,  those  who  deal  primarily  with 
human  beings  rather  than  with  inert  matter,  the 
results  of  whose  efforts  are  shown  in  some  direct  result 
upon  the  persons  with  whom  they  deal.  (2)  In  our 
barrio  communities  education  should  have  for  its 
ultimate  objective  the  fitting  of  boys  and  girls  for 
these  three  types  of  vocations.  For  many  years  to 
come,  however,  the  great  majority  of  the  barrio  boys 
and  girls  will  follow  the  industrial  pursuits  and  their 
education  will  have  accomplished  much  for  them  if 
it  makes  them  skilled  instead  of  unskilled  workers. 
Our  paupers  and  criminals  are  recruited  from  the  army 
of  the  unskilled.  In  Bilibid  and  other  well-regulated 
prisons  the  energies  of  the  prisoners  are  directed  along 
productive  channels,  for  experience  has  shown  that 
productive  labor  is  a  good  curative  measure  for  poverty 
and  crime.  If  it  is  so,  then  vocational  training  which 
makes  for  productive  labor  must  be  a  still  better  pre- 
ventive measure  in  our  social  life. 

SOCIAL  VALUE   OF  VOCATIONAL  EDUCATION 

Education,  to  be  valuable  and  practical,  must  fit 
for  individual  and  social  life.  That  training  is  most 
effective  which  best  fits  the  individual  for  his  par- 
ticular vocation.  Our  educating  forces  in  our  barrio 
schools  should  send  the  barrio  child  into  the  practical 
world  with  the  ability  and   skill  to  use  what  he  has 


VOCATIONAL  EDUCATION  79 

learned.    His  education  is  adequate  in  proportion  as  it 
succeeds  in  accomplishing  this  end. 

Vocational  education  is  useful  to  society  as  well  as 
to  the  individual.  In  discussing  the  social  value  of 
vocational  education,  a  noted  educator  said: 

Society  is  deprived  of  the  increased  productivity  which 
would  result  from  developing  in  each  and  every  one  of  its 
individuals  the  greatest  amount  of  skill  of  which  he  or 
she  is  capable;  and  the  scarcity  of  skilled  workmen  who 
can  command  good  wages,  together  with  the  super- 
abundance of  unskilled  workmen  who  can  command  only 
the  lowest  rate  of  wages,  furnishes  a  continual  handicap 
to  the  increase  in  the  efficiency  of  production.  The  result 
is  twofold.  First,  the  rate  of  production  is  kept  down  and 
society  is  the  loser.  Second,  thousands  of  human  beings, 
who  might  be  useful  and  happy  citizens,  live  and  die  in 
poverty  and  misery,  and  again  society  is  the  loser.  (3) 

BAKRIO   SCHOOL   WORK   VOCATIONAL  AND   PREVOCATIONAL 

The  school  work  in  the  barrio  schools  is  both  voca- 
tional and  pre  vocational.  Most  of  the  barrio  educa- 
tion now  and  for  many  years  to  come  is  only  primary 
work,  and  hence  it  may  be  vocational  or  prevocational 
—  vocational  if  it  helps  children  to  fit  themselves  for 
efficient  life  work,  and  if  the  life  work  chosen  is  the 
direct  result  of  their  schooling,  and  prevocational  if 
it  serves  only  as  a  preparation  for  a  more  specialized 
vocational  course,  or  if  it  serves  only  to  furnish  the 
basis  for  choosing  a  vocation  and  making  adequate 
preparation  for  it. 

VOCATIONAL   OmDANCE 

If  this  is  so,  the  teacher's  task  in  barrio  school 
education  becomes  twofold:  first,  to  teach  the  pre- 
scribed  subjects   to   the  children   so   that  they   may 


80         BARRIO  LIFE  AND  BARRIO  EDUCATION 

efiPectively  function,  and  secondly,  to  exercise  vocational 
guidance.  The  duty  of  vocational  guidance  is  a  direct 
and  necessary  corollary  of  the  vocational  idea  in 
educational  theory. 

Vocational  guidance  is  not  mere  "job  hunting."  It 
is  not  mere  work  placement,  either.  It  does  not 
merely  "mean  helping  boys  and  girls  to  find  work,  but 
to  find  the  kind  of  work  they  are  best  fitted  by  nature 
and  training  to  do  well.  It  does  not  mean  prescribing 
a  vocation.  It  does  mean  bringing  to  bear  on  the 
choice  of  a  vocation  organized  information  and  or- 
ganized common  sense."  (4)  It  necessitates  studying 
child  life  and  social  life  and  vocational  counseling  to 
avoid  vocational  chaos;  it  necessitates  inculcating  life 
motives  to  do  away  with  vocational  hoboes;  it  neces- 
sitates systematic  training  and  sympathetic  guidance 
to  minimize  and,  if  possible,  eradicate  the  number  of 
unemployed,  misemployed,  or  unemployable. 

For  several  years  the  more  progressive  members  of 
the  administrative,  supervisory,  and  teaching  force 
in  the  Islands  have  carried  on  work  in  the  way  of  voca- 
tional guidance.  More  recently  the  General  Office 
coordinated  the  efforts  within  the  Bureau  of  Educa- 
tion and  issued  instructions  to  the  field.  The  im- 
portance of  the  educational  step  taken  may  be  seen 
from  the  following  general  instructions,  which  are 
quoted  in  full: 


VOCATIONAL  EDUCATION  81 

BUREAU  OF  EDUCATION 

Manila,  January  15,  1918 

General  Instructions 
No.  5,  s.  1918 

VOCATIONAL  GUIDANCE 

To  Division  Superintendents : 

Inasmuch  as  special  vocational  intermediate  courses 
have  been  established  in  addition  to  the  general  course, 
it  is  desirable  that  educational  authorities  exercise  some 
vocational  guidance  among  the  pupils  of  the  public  schools 
in  order  that  they  may  be  assisted  in  properly  selecting 
the  courses  that  they  should  follow  after  graduation. 

Vocational  guidance  can  properly  begin  with  third- 
grade  pupils  in  an  indirect  way  in  connection  either  with 
conversational  English  classes  or  with  opening  exercises. 
Then  in  the  fourth  grade  the  matter  should  be  taken  up 
directly  with  the  pupils  in  order  that  they  may,  with  the 
aid  of  teachers  and  parents,  intelligently  select  the  proper 
course  after  finishing  the  primary  course. 

Intermediate  pupils  should  also  be  given  vocational 
guidance  by  means  of  individual  conference,  by  cooperation 
with  parents,  and  through  lectures  on  the  different  courses 
which  they  may  follow  after  graduation  and  on  the  differ- 
ent vocations  which  they  may  pursue  as  a  means  of  earning 
their  livelihood. 

In  order  that  proper  vocational  guidance  may  be 
exercised,  the  following  suggestions  are  offered : 

(a)  Teachers  should  study  the  home  conditions  of  the 
people,  especially  the  home  life  of  the  families  from  which 
the  pupils  come. 

(6)  Teachers  should  study  the  different  pupils,  deciding, 
if  possible,  what  are  their  particular  interests  and  capa- 
bilities. Pupils  may  be  divided  into  groups,  each  group 
to  have  a  teacher  in  charge  to  act  as  adviser. 

(c)  In  conference  with  parents  the  teachers  should  try 
to  give  some  definite  suggestions  as  to  what  would  seem 
to  be  best  for  the  children  when  they  leave  school  or  when 
they  graduate.  A  talk  on  the  different  fields  open  to  the 
youth  of  the  country  would  also  prove  helpful. 


82        BARRIO  LIFE  AND  BARRIO  EDUCATION 

Not  many  pupils,  and  indeed  not  all  teachers,  know 
that  there  are  different  vocational  intermediate  courses 
maintained  by  the  Bureau  of  Education.  The  fact  that 
there  are  a  good  many  agricultural  and  farm  schools  where 
good  agricultural  training  can  be  secured  is  not  widely 
known.  Opportunities  are  offered  to  high  school  graduates 
or  intermediate  graduates  to  work  and  study  at  Muiioz 
or  to  study  at  Los  Banos  or  to  acquire  homesteads,  but 
these  opportunities  are  not  commonly  known.  Perhaps 
some  lectures  might  be  given  or  essays  written  in  the 
classes  in  English  on  the  available  public  lands  of  the 
Philippines. 

A  few  should  be  influenced  to  take  a  professional  course 
in  education  in  the  Philippine  Normal  School  or  the  Uni- 
versity of  the  Philippines,  and  one  or  two  from  each 
province  who  have  graduated  from  the  high  school  course 
may  be  advised  to  take  the  special  course  either  in  sten- 
ography or  bookkeeping  offered  in  the  Philippine  School 
of  Commerce.  The  field  open  to  those  endowed  with 
business  ability  should  be  touched  upon. 

The  giving  of  vocational  guidance  should  receive  the 
consideration  of  the  educational  authorities  in  the  hope 
that  there  may  be  few  misfits  among  our  graduates.  The 
problem  of  vocational  guidance  should  receive  particular 
attention  during  the  latter  part  of  the  school  year,  and 
in  the  cases  of  pupils  who  will  graduate  from  the  course 
or  are  intending  to  leave  school. 

The  giving  of  vocational  guidance  is  not  a  simple 
matter.  The  choice  of  a  vocation  is  of  supreme  im- 
portance, and  the  duty  of  influencing  a  pupil's  choice 
demands  a  broad  knowledge  of  Philippine  conditions  and 
keen  judgment  of  pupils'  capacities.  Bad  advice  is  worse 
than  none,  and  supervising  officers  should  delegate  the 
giving  of  vocational  guidance  only  to  those  best  fitted  for 
the  task. 

VOCATIONAL   PROVISIONS 

The  present  Philippine  school  curriculum  includes 
a  great  variety  of  industrial  courses.     The  courses 


VOCATIONAL  EDUCATION 


offered  in  any  particular  school  depend  upon  the  kinds  of 
pupils  in  attendance,  the  community  needs  and  de- 
mands, the  availability  of  materials,  and  the  adapta- 
bility of  courses  to  local  conditions.  There  is  sufficient 
variety  to  provide  opportunity  for  right  choice.  In- 
dustrial work  is  provided  for  boys  and  girls  in  every 
grade  of  the  elementary  schools.  The  industrial  pro- 
visions and  the  industrial  achievement  of  the  public 
schools  have  won  the  admiration  of  noted  educators 
abroad.  Dr.  Paul  Monroe,  while  on  his  trip  of  in- 
vestigation of  our  public  school  system,  said  that 
"the  industrial  work  in  the  Philippine  schools  is  pro- 
ducing work  of  very  high  quality,  in  some  respects 
not  surpassed  in  any  other  country." 


The  following 

is   a   Hst  of   the 

various   industrial 

courses;  (5) 

lA    Elementary       em- 

9A   Mats  —  Pandan 

19B  Baskets  —  Platted 

broidery 

9B    Mats  —  Buri 

buri 

IB    Advanced    embroi- 

90   Mats  — Sedge 

20A  Slippers  —  Fiber 

dery 

9D    Mats  — Coir 

20B  Slippers  —  Sedge 

IC    Colored  embroidery 

10     Hats 

20C  Slippers  —  Other 

2A    Elementary  bobbin 

11 A  Baskets  —  Native 

21A  Hand-loom     weav- 

lace 

llB  Baskets  — Export 

ing 

2B    Advanced     bobbin 

bamboo-rattan 

21B  Foot-loom      weav- 

lace 

12A  B  a  s  k  e  t  s  —  Ele- 

ing 

2C    Filet  lace 

mentary  polangni 

21C  Matting 

2D    Other  lace 

12B  B  a  s  k  e  t  s  —  A  d- 

22A  Carving   —    Bam- 

3     Tatting 

vanced  polangui 

boo 

4A    Elementary  Irish 

13     Baskets  —  Vetiver 

22B  Carving   —   Coco- 

crochet 

14     Baskets  —  Jewel 

nut 

4B    Advanced        Irish 

15     Baskets  —  Buntal 

22C  Carving  — Wood 

crochet 

16     Baskets  —  Stem 

23A  Woodwork 

4C    Filet  crochet 

17     Baskets  —  Midrib 

23B  Bamboo  furniture 

5       Macrame 

18A  Baskets  —  Coiled 

23C  Rattan  furniture 

6A    Cooking 

stem 

24     Sedge  handbags 

6B    Housekeeping 

18B  Baskets  —  Coiled 

25     Brushes      and 

7       Sewing 

fiber 

brooms 

8A    Hand     weaving  — 

18C  Baskets  —  Coiled 

26     Gardening 

Soft  strips 

strips 

27     Pottery 

8B    Hand     weaving  — 

19A  Baskets  —  Platted 

28     Special 

Hard  strips 

pandans 

20     Trade  course 

84         BARRIO  LIFE  AND  BARRIO  EDUCATION 

It  is  clear  that  in  the  barrio  schools  emphasis  should 
be  given  to  those  industrial  courses  which  tend  to 
improve  food,  clothing,  and  shelter,  and  which  result 
in  raising  standards  of  living.^ 

Even  the  academic  subjects  in  the  barrio  school 
curriculum  may  well  be  given  a  vocational  trend.  If 
this  is  done,  barrio  education  may  indeed  more  truly 
meet  the  actual  living  needs  of  the  people  living  in 
the  barrio  communities.  To  be  concrete:  the  con- 
versational English  may  well  deal  with  subjects  related 
to  the  work  animals  of  the  field,  the  products  of  the 
farm,  the  beautiful  things  of  nature  around  the  home; 
the  work  in  arithmetic  may  profitably  deal  with  the 
quantitative  relations  of  life  within  the  experience  of 
children  in  barrio  communities;  and  geography  may 
effectively  present  phenomena  of  nature  and  the  earth 
in  relation  to  the  plants  that  may  or  may  not  be 
grown,  to  the  animals  that  may  or  may  not  be  raised, 
and  to  the  home  life  of  children.  It  is  believed  that 
some  such  plan  would  greatly  vitahze  the  school  work 
of  children. 

^  The  value  of  articles  fabricated  in  the  schools  of  the  Philippine  Islands 
during  the  school  year  1919-20  is  as  follows: 

Embroidery Plll,105.73 

Lace,  including  Cluny,  Valenciennes,  filet,  and  crochet .     38,835 .  31 

Plain  sewing 479,302.28 

Mats  and  mat  products 11,308.29 

Coir  mats 9,484.51 

Hats 9,976.57 

Baskets . 120,450. 63 

Slippers 3,598.78 

Rattan  furniture 35,292.38 

Municipal  shop  products 97,857 .11 

Provincial  trade  schools  and  provincial  shops 198,435.72 

It  is  to  be  noted  that  the  output  of  the  Philippine  School  of  Arts  and 
Trades  is  not  included  in  the  last  item. 


VOCATIONAL  EDUCATION  85 

SOME  REASONS  FOR  INDUSTRIAL  ACTIVITIES 

The  industrial  feature  is  a  vital  part  of  the  Philippine 
school  curriculum.  Industrial  courses  are  included  for 
reasons  which  are  many  and  valid,  a  few  of  which  will 
be  enumerated. 

The  industrial  courses  furnish  opportunity  for 
utilizing  the  children's  constructive  instincts  and  for 
controlling  their  destructive  tendencies. 

From  the  time  the  child  begins  to  pile  up  sand  or  blocks, 
through  the  ages  when  boys  construct  tools  and  dig  caves, 
and  men  design  temples,  bridges,  business  blocks,  and 
balloons,  the  constructive  instinct  is  prominent.  There  is 
a  peculiar  pleasure  accompanying  these  acts  of  con- 
struction, perhaps  because  one  feels  and  perceives  in 
concrete  form  the  evidence  of  his  power  to  do,  to  modify, 
and  to  change.  The  destructive  tendency  is  probably 
only  a  modified  form  of  the  constructive,  for  it  gives  the 
same  evidence  of  power  to  change.  (6) 

Industrial  work  furnishes  variety,  and  sensible 
variety  deepens  interest  in  school  work.  Indeed, 
variety  has  been  said  to  be  the  spice  of  child  life. 

The  industrial  activities,  through  which  pupils  are 
given  a  chance  to  manipulate,  furnish  the  opportunity 
for  motor  education  or  sense  training  so  necessary  in 
the  education  of  the  normal  child. 

The  industrial  work  furnishes  concrete  experi- 
ence upon  which  is  based  much  of  the  abstract  con- 
cepts. "Making  things  .  .  .  naturally  precedes  mak- 
ing pictures  of  them  or  compositions  about  them."  (7) 

The  industrial  courses  are  eflScient  means  of  in- 
culcating in  the  minds  of  youth  the  dignity  of  labor. 
Andres  Bonifacio  said,  "Diligence  in  the  effort  to  earn 
means  of  subsistence  is  the  genuine  love  for  one's  self, 


86         BARRIO  LIFE  AND  BARRIO  EDUCATION 

one's  wife,  son,   daughter,   brother,  sister,  and   com- 
patriot." 

More  directly  than  any  other  single  feature  of  the 
course  of  study,  the  industrial  work  makes  for  pro- 
ductive work  and  guides  youthful  power  along  profit- 
able lines.  It  helps  instill  the  educative  and  economic 
value  of  labor. 

In  the  first  place  [a  vocational  authority  writes], 
children  like  to  work,  that  is,  outside  of  school,  and  these 
work  impulses  of  youth  ought  to  be  organized  to  con- 
tribute to  the  educative  process.  .  .  .  Now,  on  account  of 
the  war,  they  are  aroused  to  a  high  pitch,  and  we  ought 
to  be  able  to  organize  them  in  connection  with  the  new 
work  opportunities  for  higher  economic  efficiency  as  well 
as  for  higher  social  efficiency.  (8) 

The  habit  of  industry  is  formed  through  actual 
doing.  The  industrial  activities  foster  this  desirable 
habit. 

Of  all  the  fortunate  experience  that  can  come  to  a 
child's  early  life,  the  habit  of  industry  is  of  the  greatest 
lasting  importance.  Its  application  to  every  phase  of 
business  and  of  enterprise  is  self-evident.  To  have  learned 
to  work  and  to  enjoy  work,  to  have  acquired  a  feeling  of 
dissatisfaction  with  idleness  and  indifference,  to  have 
attained  to  a  condition  where  definite  results  are  necessary 
to  happiness  and  contentment,  is  a  state  of  mind  and 
personal  being  that  defines  opportunity  as  success  and 
possibility  to  reality.  One  of  the  saddest  experiences  that 
many  healthy  children  suffer  is  that  of  not  having  an 
opportunity  for  a  normal  response  to  their  natural  want 
for  productive  occupation.  This  want  is  fully  supplied  in 
country  life.  There  is  work  suitable  to  the  power  and 
the  strength  of  the  youngest  pupils,  there  is  abundant 
opportunity  for  them  to  engage  in  productive  activities, 
there  are  privileges  to  use  judgment  and  to  practice 
experiments,  there  is  chance  to  study  and  invent,  there  is 


VOCATIONAL  EDUCATION  87 

abundance  of  service  for  initiative  and  for  testing  to  the 
fullest  extent,  while  character  is  developed  and  personality 
is  expanded.  The  marvelousness  of  these  things  is  easily- 
realized  by  those  whose  pupils  have  had  such  training  and 
such  experiences.  (9) 

MAIN   OBJECTS 

From  the  standpoint  of  the  individual  the  chief  aims 
of  industrial  education  are  (a)  industrial  intelligence, 
(b)  industrial  skill,  and  (c)  industrial  sympathy  —  in- 
telligence to  mean  insight  into  the  thought  process 
and  product;  skill  to  mean  power  and  dexterity  in 
production;  and  sympathy  to  mean  desire  to  work 
and  love  for  the  laborer. 

Sources  of  Quotations  and  References 

(1)  Cyclopedia  of  Education,  Vol.  Ill,  p.  425. 

(2)  WooDLEY,  O.  I.  and  M.  V.    The  Profession  of  Teaching,  Ch.  I. 

(3)  Quoted  in  Woodley,  The  Profession  of  Teaching,  p.  224. 

(4)  Hanus,  Paul  H.,  in  Introduction  to  Bloomfield's  The  Vo- 

cational Guidance  of  Youth. 

(5)  Service  Manual  and  Courses  of  Study. 

(6)  KiRKPATRiCK,  E.  A.    Fundamentals  of  Child  Study,  pp.  207-208. 

(7)  ,  p.  208. 

(8)  Dean,  A.  D.    Our  Schools  in  War  Time  —  and  After. 

(9)  Seerley,  H.  H.    The  Country  School,  pp.  14-15. 

General  Bibliography 

1.  Cooley,  E.  G.     Vocational  Education  in  Europe. 

2.  Snedden,  D.     The  Problem  of  Vocational  Education. 

3.  Bloomfield,  M.     The  Vocational  Guidance  of  Youth. 

4.  GowiN,  E.  B.,  and  Wheatley,  W.  A.    Occupations. 

5.  Leavitt,  F.  M.    Examples  of  Industrial  Education. 

6.  Patten,  S.  N.     The  New  Basis  of  Civilization. 

7.  Eaton,  J.  J.     Record  Forms  for  Vocational  School. 

8.  Davis,  J.  B.     Vocational  and  Moral  Guidance. 

9.  Dean,  A.  D.     Our  Schools  in  War  Time  —  and  After. 

10.  Beckwith,  H.     German  Industrial  Education  and  Its  Lessons 

for  the  United  States. 

11.  Snedden,  D.    Vocational  Education* 


CHAPTER  SEVEN 

Achievements  of  a  Practical  Character 

One  of  our  most  important  educational  problems  is 
to  make  the  good  contagious  and  to  check  the  spread 
of  the  bad  among  our  barrios.  Evolutionary  activities 
have  been  going  on  in  barrio  schools  and  barrio  com- 
munities, but  the  great  problem  is  how  to  spread  the 
good  and  check  the  contagion  of  the  bad.  Efficient 
education  aims  to  make  changes  for  the  better  and 
prevent  changes  for  the  worse.  To  realize  this  in  barrio 
education  and  barrio  life  there  is  need  of  more  in- 
spiration and  less  irritation;  deeper  sympathy  with 
barrio  folk  and  less  nagging  of  them;  more  treasuring 
of  virtues  and  less  measuring  of  weaknesses.  The  dis- 
cussion which  follows  seeks  to  do  more  supporting  of 
high  spots  and  less  reporting  on  low  spots. 

SITES  AND   BUILDINGS 

An  encouraging  sign  of  progress  is  found  in  the 
increase  of  school  sites.  A  school  having  an  adequate 
site  has  many  advantages  over  one  that  has  not, 
in  fulfilling  the  functions  for  which  it  exists.  An 
adequate  school  site  must  be  ample  for  the  following 
purposes : 

(a)  to  display  the  building  properly;  (b)  to  provide  for 
additional  buildings  to  accommodate  industrial  activities 
or  increase  in  attendance;    (c)  to  provide  for  gardening; 

(d)  to  provide  grounds  for  baseball  and  other  games; 

(e)  to  make  possible  the  placing  of  the  building  at  a 
distance  from  other  houses,  thus  allowing  a  freer  circulation 
of  air,  the  maintenance  of  sanitary  conditions  about  the 
schools,  and  freedom  from  noises  which  may  disturb 
school  work.  (1) 


ACHIEVEMENTS  OF  A  PRACTICAL  CHARACTER    89 


At  the  end  of  the  fiscal  year  1916  ^  there  were 
school  sites,  municipal  (barrio  and  central),  provincial, 
and  insular,  exclusive  of  the  Department  of  Mindanao 
and  Sulu.  Of  this  number  1698  were  barrio  school 
sites,  with  an  area  of  8,212,499  square  meters,  ac- 
quired by  donation,  purchase,  or  reservation.  The 
total  increase  in  school  sites  during  1916  was  303,  of 
which  299  were  municipal  sites,  152  being  for  barrio 
schools. 

The  number  of  municipal  sites  increased  by  21  per  cent 
and  their  area  by  14  per  cent.  The  actual  area  of  municipal 
sites  acquired  was  203.6  hectares;  that  of  insular  and 
provincial  sites  was  28.6  hectares.  The  increase  in  the 
value  of  school  sites  was  approximately  200,200;  the 
percentages  of  increase  in  the  value  of  proviacial  and 
insular,  central,  and  barrio  sites  were  5  per  cent,  15  per 
cent,  and  6  per  cent,  respectively. 

The  total  estimated  value  of  all  the  school  sites  is 
?2,501,744,  and  their  total  area  is  22,378,809  square 
meters. 2  (2) 

1  There  were  in  1919  3647  school  sites.  Of  these  3532  were  central  and 
barrio  school  sites,  which  are  classified  as  follows:  first  class,  1521;  second 
class,  718;  third  class,  1293.  The  remaining  115  sites  are  classified  as  provin- 
cial and  Insular.  The  total  value  of  provincial  and  Insular  school  sites  is 
Pl,366,833.74,  and  the  total  value  of  municipal  school  sites  is  P2,736,761.37. 
The  increase  in  the  number  of  school  sites  during  1918  was  454,  of  which 
367  were  barrio  school  sites  and  87  were  central  school  sites;  and  of  which 
265  were  first  class,  107  were  second  class,  and  82  were  third  class.  The 
number  of  first  and  second  class  sites  obtained  during  1919  was  almost 
double  the  number  of  first  and  second  class  sites  obtained  during  1918. 
The  number  of  third-class  sites  obtained  during  1919  was  smaller  than  the 
number  of  third-class  sites  obtained  in  1918.  The  number  of  barrio  school 
sites  acquired  during  1919  was  almost  double  the  number  of  barrio  school 
sites  acquired  during  1918.  The  large  increase  in  the  total  number  of  sites 
was  due  principally  to  the  workings  of  the  extension  program.  Twentieth 
Annual  Report  of  the  Director  of  Education,  p.  59. 

2  1919  statistics  show  a  total  area  of  72,767,801.76  square  meters  at  an 
estimated  value  of  P4,103,595.11. 


90         BARRIO  LIFE  AND  BARRIO  EDUCATION 

There  is  undoubtedly  much  room  for  improvement 
in  the  housing  of  our  pubHc  schools.  Many,  especially 
in  the  barrios,  are  housed  in  inadequate  temporary 
or  semi-permanent  buildings,  or  in  rented  or  borrowed 
private  houses.  Permanent  and  fairly  substantial 
buildings  have,  however,  been  erected  in  various  places. 
In  many  barrios  temporary  schools  have  been  built 
by  the  people  in  spite  of  the  lack  of  municipal  funds. 
Not  long  ago  the  writer  visited  the  division  of  Bulacan 
and  learned  that  during  the  last  few  months  the 
people  of  the  province  contributed  P15,000  cash, 
besides  labor  and  material  the  value  of  which  it  would 
be  difficult  to  estimate.  A  good  civic  spirit  was  shown 
by  the  people  in  the  barrio  of  Banban,  Bulacan,  under 
the  leadership  of  the  school  authorities,  by  replacing 
an  absolutely  inadequate  house  with  a  substantial 
^  wooden  school  building.  In  another  barrio,  Santa  Ana, 
the  people  had  a  community  fish  pond  from  which  they 
used  to  secure  money  to  finance  their  annual  fiestas. 
One  day  they  realized  the  imperative  need  of  a  decent 
school  building.  The  municipality  had  no  money 
available  for  construction  purposes.  The  barrio  in- 
habitants decided  to  lease  the  fish  pond  for  a  period  of 
years  and  use  the  money,  not  for  fiestas,  but  for  a 
school  building.  Today  their  children  are  better 
housed  and  are  doing  better  work  in  a  structure  which 
is  a  monument  to  the  common  sense  of  the  community.' 

^  In  1919  there  were  3432  buildings,  of  which  919  were  classified  as  per- 
manent; 816,  as  mixed  material;  and  1697,  as  temporary  or  provisional. 
Of  the  919  permanent  buildings,  475  were  constructed  according  to  stand- 
ard plans  and  are  known  as  Gabaldon  school  buildings.  The  increase  in  the 
number  of  standard-plan  buildings  was  16;  in  the  number  of  special  build- 
ings, 36;  in  the  number  of  mixed-material  buildings,  75;  in  the  number  of 
temporary  buildings,  271.  The  increase  in  the  number  of  all  buildings 
since  1918  was  398,  of  which  362  were  constructed  without  Insular  assist- 


ACHIEVEMENTS  OF  A  PRACTICAL  CHARACTER    91 

In  Bacnotan,  La  Union,  a  few  years  ago,  the  old 
reconstructed  school  building  in  the  central  barrio  was 
fast  outgrowing  its  usefulness.  The  school  and  town 
officials  had  foresight  and  adhered  to  the  policy  of 
accumulating  money  for  a  permanent  building  fund. 
A  temporary  building  was  needed.  Several  meetings 
were  held  to  appeal  to  the  people  for  help.  Wood, 
bamboo,  and  cogon  in  great  quantities  were  brought 
free  to  the  school  site  soon  after.  For  three  months, 
from  eighty  to  one  hundred  men  worked  without  a 
single  centavo  of  pay  to  construct  a  new  building  and 
avoid  the  closing  of  the  school,  since  the  old  building 
had  been  condemned.  The  only  expense  to  the  munici- 
pality was  the  payment  of  the  services  of  one  carpenter 
who  directed  the  work,  and  the  cost  of  nails.  A  large  ten- 
room  building  was  erected  by  the  friends  of  the  school  as 
a  labor  of  love,  a  demonstration  of  practical  patriotism. 

These  and  other  examples  which  could  be  cited  are 
indicative  of  a  new  civic  spirit,  a  greater  consciousness 
of  the  obligations  of  citizenship.  They  augur  well  for 
the  future  of  our  schools  and  for  civilization.  They 
point  clearly  to  the  day  in  a  future  not  distant  when 
the  people  —  elected  and  electors,  governors  and 
governed  —  shall  cheerfully  shoulder  the  burden  of 
increased  taxation  to  meet  the  needs  and  demands  of 
an  ever  growing  school  population  and  of  the  more 
exacting  standards  of  school  efficiency. 

PHYSICAL   WELFARE 

"The  physical-culture  program  of  the  Bureau  of 
Education  has  been  justified  by  results.     The  young 

ance.  Of  the  362  buildings  constructed  without  Insular  assistance,  4  were 
concrete;  96  were  mixed  material;  and  262  were  temporary.  Twentieth 
Annual  Report  of  the  Director  of  Education^  p.  57. 


92         BARRIO  LIFE  AND  BARRIO  EDUCATION 

people  in  the  public  schools  enjoy  better  health  than 
those  who  do  not  attend."  (3)  The  barrio  teachers 
have  been  conscious  of  their  duties  as  guardians  of  the 
children's  health.  Through  care  for  the  cleanliness  of 
the  school  and  premises  and  the  observance  of  "  Clean- 
Up- Week,"  through  frequent  health  inspections, 
through  instruction  in  hygiene  and  sanitation,  direct 
and  indirect,  through  a  more  adequate  provision  of 
outhouses,  through  outdoor  activities,  through  the 
increased  attention  given  to  the  details  of  seats  and 
seating,  lighting  and  ventilation,  and  through  the 
program  of  physical  education,  consisting  of  calis- 
thenics, group  games,  and  athletics,  there  resulted  an 
improvement  in  the  health  conditions  of  at  least  the 
younger  generation  of  our  barrio  communities.  Better 
habits  of  hygiene  and  sanitation  are  certainly  being 
formed. 

INDUSTRIAL  ACTIVITIES 

There  have  been  notable  achievements  along  in- 
dustrial lines.  In  barrios  where  hat  making  is  taught 
in  the  schools,  the  boys  may  be  seen  wearing  hats 
that  they  themselves  made,  thus  acquiring  self-reliance 
and  bringing  about  economy  in  the  family  purse.  A 
few  homes  are  better  equipped  because  of  skill  ac- 
quired by  boys  enrolled  in  bamboo  and  rattan  furniture 
classes.  The  fact  that  barrio  children  are  wearing 
rompers  and  one-piece  dresses  is  in  most  cases  due  to 
instruction  in  plain  sewing.  The  schools  have  done 
a  good  deal  to  instill  among  the  people  a  deeper  sense 
of  the  dignity  of  labor.  In  Meyto,  Calumpit,  the 
barrio  that  won  first  place  in  the  1916  barrio  efficiency 
contest,  parents  encourage  pupils  in  their  industrial 
work.  (4) 


Bureau  of  Education,  Manila,  P.  I. 


A  permanent  barrio  school  building. 


Bureau  of  Education,  Manila,  P.  I. 
A  barrio  schoolhouse  built  from  voluntary  contributions  of  barrio  people. 


ACHIEVEMENTS  OF  A  PRACTICAL  CHARACTER    93 

The  following  is  a  report  of  a  barrio  teacher's  achieve- 
ments in  the  province  of  Capiz :  (5) 

Bayang,  a  small  but  progressive  barrio  in  New  Wash- 
ington, is  situated  on  an  island  about  three  hours  by 
"baroto"  from  the  center  of  the  town.  The  people  raise 
rice  and  a  few  coconuts  and  weave  "daet,"  a  coarse  buri 
cloth. 

Before  the  schools  began  using  this  cloth  for  making 
bags  and  cushions,  it  had  been  used  mainly  for  partitions, 
curtains,  a  sort  of  blanket,  and  for  purposes  requiring  a 
coarse,  tough  wrapping  material.  But  when  the  schools 
began  using  daet  as  an  industrial  material,  there  was  a 
demand  for  a  better  grade  than  that  which  was  being 
produced. 

Finally  it  was  decided  to  make  the  cloth  in  the  school 
established  in  this  barrio.  The  work  was  started,  but 
not  much  progress  was  made  until  a  teacher  by  the  name 
of  Santiago  Bermuda  was  placed  in  charge  of  the  school. 
He  taught  the  bleaching  of  raffia  with  citric  acid  instead 
of  with  acid  fruits,  and  thus  obtained  materials  that  were 
very  white  and  pliable  yet  strong  enough  to  be  woven 
easily.  He  placed  an  improved  foot  loom  and  a  hand 
loom  in  the  school  and  set  the  pupils  to  work  weaving 
bed,  wall,  and  floor  mats,  and  making  cushions,  handbags, 
and  hammocks.  A  cloth  suitable  for  light  hats  was  also 
developed. 

As  the  articles  produced  were  very  much  superior  to 
anything  previously  made  of  buri  raffia  in  that  locality, 
they  were  disposed  of  readily  and  at  advanced  prices. 
The  people  became  interested.  The  attendance  grew. 
Soon  105  pupils  were  enrolled,  some  of  whom  came  2§ 
kilometers.  Seventy-three  were  enrolled  in  the  first  grade. 
A  good  temporary  building  has  been  constructed.  The 
pupils  provide  their  own  materials,  with  the  exception  of 
the  citric  acid  and  some  dyes.  The  people  are  learning 
the  use  of  the  new  looms  and  the  new  way  of  bleaching, 
as  well  as  the  finer  weaves  introduced  into  the  school, 
and  before  long  the  old  way  of  manufacturing  will  be 


94         BARRIO  LIFE  AND  BARRIO  EDUCATION 

entirely  superseded  by  the  more  efficient  way  in  all  the 
homes  in  the  barrio. 

Here  is  an  industrial  supervisor's  report  of  industrial 
achievements  in  a  barrio  in  the  province  of  Zam- 
bales:  (6) 

Longos,  in  the  town  of  Cabangan,  is  a  very  poor  barrio 
of  a  poor  municipality.  But  in  spite  of  its  handicaps 
Longos  has  maintained  a  school  of  one  teacher  for  more 
than  10  years,  and  during  that  time  its  people  have  built 
3  schoolhouses. 

Notwithstanding  the  low  salary,  F12  per  month,  which 
the  teachers  receive  from  the  municipality,  Longos  has 
generally  had  good  teachers  who  have  done  some  excellent 
work.  During  the  present  school  year  an  average  daily 
attendance  of  25  boys  has  been  maintained.  Yet  these 
mere  children  of  the  first  and  second  grades,  during  the 
first  6  months  of  the  present  school  year,  made  45  baskets; 
fenced  a  yard  of  300  square  meters  and  a  school  garden  of 
347  square  meters;  and  cleaned,  planted,  and  cultivated 
the  garden  and  8  home  gardens  with  a  combined  area  of 
1136  square  meters.  Besides,  they  cleaned  the  school 
grounds,  kept  the  fences  in  repair,  and  decorated  the 
schoolhouse  with  plants. 

The  school  garden  is  one  of  the  best  in  the  province, 
and  for  several  years  the  premises  have  been  maintained 
in  a  model  condition.  The  industrial  equipment  of  the 
boys  is  all  furnished  by  the  individual  pupils  and  consists 
of  3  or  4  old  hoes,  2  bolos,  and  a  few  pocket  knives.  The 
irrigation  system  for  the  garden  consists  of  a  few  bamboo 
tubes  for  carrying  water. 

The  girls  of  the  Longos  school  are  even  smaller  and 
fewer  than  the  boys.  Their  work  consists  in  elementary 
sewing  and  mat  weaving. 

Stopping  at  the  barrio  of  Imugan,  Nueva  Vizcaya, 
one  March  day,  the  writer  was  pleased  to  note  the 
clean  and  well-kept  building  and  premises  of  a  two- 


ACHIEVEMENTS  OF  A  PRACTICAL  CHARACTER    95 

room  school  with  fifty-eight  primary  boys  and  two 
industrious  teachers.  The  academic  work  was  as 
good  as  the  ordinary,  the  children  were  courteous  and 
happy,  their  industrial  work  was  good,  and  they  kept 
under  good  cultivation  a  garden  of  more  than  five 
hectares. 

Gardening  activities  and  Garden  Days  in  the  barrios 
have  contributed  immensely  toward  making  the  barrio 
schools  more  efficient  agencies  of  social  uplift.  They 
have  been  partly  instrumental  in  increasing,  varying, 
and  improving  the  diet  of  the  people.  Garden  Days, 
formerly  held  only  in  the  larger  towns,  have  now  been 
generally  observed  in  the  barrios  and  are  fast  becom- 
ing in  the  Philippines  what  agricultural  fairs  are  in 
the  United  States.  Among  the  features  commonly 
represented  in  the  Garden  Day  celebrations  are  the 
following: 

1.  Garden  products  from  school  and  home  gardens. 

2.  Farm  products  from  farmers. 

3.  Seed  beds  in  boxes  to  show  seed  testing,  methods 
of  germination,  and  transplanting. 

4.  Fruit-tree  seedlings  in  bamboo  tubes  and  flowering 
plants  in  pots. 

5.  A  newly  planted  fruit  tree,  showing  protection, 
care,  and  cultivation. 

6.  Well-selected  seed  palay. 

7.  Selected  corn  seed  ears,  and  corn  exhibit. 

8.  Shelves  filled  with  bottles  of  dried  seeds  labeled, 
and  properly  preserved. 

9.  Fruits,  yams,  and  products  of  quick-growing 
crops  from  all  sources. 

10.  Garden  implements,  their  prices,  and  where 
they  may  be  secured. 


96         BARRIO  LIFE  AND  BARRIO  EDUCATION 

11.  Exhibit  of  poultry  and  of  animals. 

12.  Boys  cooking  some  vegetable  products,  as- 
sisted by  domestic  science  girls. 

13.  Teacher  explaining  the  various  features,  animal 
and  plant  diseases,  etc. 

Fruit-tree  growing  and  nursery  work  have  claimed 
the  attention  of  administrative  officers  in  school 
divisions.  Some  supervisory  officers  have  made  it  a 
requirement  that  barrio  schools  having  permanently 
owned  sites  keep  nursery  beds  for  the  growing  of 
properly  selected  seedlings  and  cuttings.  These 
nurseries  have  served  as  sources  of  supply  for  carry- 
ing out  the  fruit-tree  campaigns.  In  some  divisions 
the  local  conditions  have  been  studied  and  the  fruit 
trees  that  grow  best  in  the  various  localities  have  been 
ascertained.  Definite  programs  of  horticultural  work 
were  adopted  and  followed.  Once  a  year,  during 
Arbor  Day,  special  effort  is  put  forth  to  care  for  the 
trees  and  plants  previously  planted,  to  replace  those 
that  have  died,  and  to  plant  additional  ones.  Several 
thousands  of  trees  of  economic  and  aesthetic  value 
have  thus  been  grown  along  the  highways,  in  the 
plazas,  in  the  yards  of  many  homes,  and  on  the  school 
sites.  The  continuation  and  extension  of  the  activities 
along  these  lines,  so  well  begun,  will  years  hence  bear 
abundant  fruitage. 

The  corn  campaign  and  corn  demonstrations  that 
have  been  conducted  have  made  their  influence  felt 
even  in  the  remotest  barrios.  These  activities,  which 
enlisted  the  attention  and  support  of  the  schools  in 
cooperation  with  other  agencies,  resulted  in  increasing 
the  hectarage  of  corn,  the  average  yield  of  corn  from 
about  8  cavans  to  over  11  cavans  per  hectare,  and  the 


ACHIEVEMENTS  OF  A  PRACTICAL  CHARACTER    97 


use  of  corn  as  a  staple  food.  They  have  served  to 
impress  upon  the  pupils  and  farmers  the  necessity  of 
seed  selection,  by  emphasizing  the  following  sug- 
gestions: (7) 

1.  Select  and  test  your  seed  corn. 

2.  Select  corn  from  stalks  having  two  ears. 

3.  Select  ears  with  straight  rows. 

4.  Select  kernels  from  the  middle  part  of  the  ear, 
not  from  the  tips. 

5.  Select  mature  corn  from  the  field. 

6.  Select  ears  with  kernels  of  uniform  color. 

More  people  learned  to  judge  corn  properly,  by  the 
use  of  the  following  score  card: 


No. 


Scores 


Value        Credit 


1 

2 

3 

4 

5 

6 

7 

8 

9 

10 

11 

12 

13 


Uniformity  of  exhibit 
Market  condition .  .  . 
Purity  of  grain  color . 

Shape  of  ear 

Proportion  of  ear ... 

Butts 

Tips 

Space  between  rows . 
Per  cent  grain  to  ear . 

Trueness 

Shape  of  grain 

Uniformity  of  grains . 
Weight  of  ears 

Possible  credits .  . . 

Credits  given 


10 
5 
5 

10 

10 

5 

5 

10 

15 

10 

5 

5 

5 


100 


More  recently  the  Director  of  Education  coordinated 
the  agricultural  and  allied  activities  and  authorized 
the  organization  of  boys'  and  girls'  agricultural  clubs. 
The  members  of  these  clubs  engage  in  contests  and 
projects  of  different  kinds,  among  which  are  the  rice- 


98        BARRIO  LIFE  AND  BARRIO  EDUCATION 

and-sweet-potato-growing,  poultry-raising,  pig-raising, 
fruit-growing,  vegetable-gardening,  corn-growing,  and 
cooking  contests.  The  following  statistics  and  esti- 
mates for  the  school  year  1917-18  show  in  part  what 
the  Philippine  public  schools  have  achieved  in  agri- 
cultural education:  (8) 

Farming 

Agricultural  schools 10 

Farm  schools 14 

Settlement  farm  schools 104 

Gardening 

School  gardens 3,960 

Home  gardens 54,655 

Improved  school  premises 1,768 

School  lawns 1,234 

Tree  Planting 

Fruit  trees  planted 255,369 

Other  trees  planted 19,100 

Cattle  Raising 

Dairy  cattle 16 

Range  cattle 60 

Work  cattle 125 

Carabaos 147 

Hog  Raising 

School  with  Berkshire  hogs 28 

Public  breeding  boars 28 

Hogs  raised 5,900 

Poultry  Raising 

Schools  with  Cantonese  stock 50 

Poultry  distributed 12,879 

Chickens  raised 138,120 

Corn  Growing 
(1914-15  Statistics) 

Boys  grew  corn 43,561 

Girls  taught  recipes 8,835 

Increased  hectarage 46  % 

Increased  average  yield 90  % 

Increased  production 258% 


ACHIEVEMENTS  OF  A  PRACTICAL  CHARACTER    99 

Home  Projects 

Poultry  projects 4,563 

Hog  projects 1,925 

Seed-rice  projects 120 

Vegetable  projects 64,654 

Corn  projects 6,731 

Other  farm-crop  projects 2,675 

SOCIAL  ASPECTS 

In  addition  to  the  achievements  discussed  above, 
there  are  social  activities  which  have  in  several  places 
received  their  due  share  of  attention.  Athletic  meets 
in  barrios  or  under  the  auspices  of  barrio  leagues  have 
served  to  draw  the  people  together  and  promote  a 
greater  feeling  of  fellowship  and  spirit  of  unity.  They 
have  also  provided  wholesome  entertainment  for  a  vast 
number  of  people  who  have  only  limited  opportunities 
for  recreation  and  enjoyment.  Educative  and  educa- 
tional meetings  in  the  form  of  literary  programs,  pro- 
grams for  special  occasions,  and  civico-educational 
lectures  have  been  held  in  the  schools,  making  them 
real  social  centers.  These  lectures  have  touched  upon 
very  useful  and  practical  topics,  among  which  may  be 
mentioned  the  rights  and  duties  of  citizens,  a  garden  for 
every  home,  the  care  and  treatment  of  domestic  animals, 
good  manners  and  right  conduct,  the  prevention  of 
diseases,  protection  of  coconut  trees  from  beetles,  rice 
culture,  corn,  etc.  These  gatherings  have  been  instru- 
mental in  bringing  about  greater  cooperation  on  the 
part  of  school  officials  and  municipal  officials  and  be- 
tween teachers  and  patrons  of  the  school.  Partly 
through  the  agency  of  activities  of  a  social  nature, 
there  is  a  closer  relation  between  the  school  and  the 
home. 

One  of  the  problems  of  barrio  education  in  a  broad 


100      BARRIO  LIFE  AND  BARRIO  EDUCATION 

sense  is  to  provide  wholesome  pleasure  for  the  barrio 
folk.  The  Filipinos  are,  as  a  people,  pleasure  lovers 
and  the  barrio  inhabitants  are  no  exception.  Musical 
programs  are  always  welcomed.  Folk  dancing,  con- 
sisting of  such  dances  as  the  carinosay  surtidos,  and  our 
primitive  dances  plus  selected  folk  dances  of  other 
peoples,  if  properly  taught  and  presented,  would  do 
much  to  furnish  wholesome  pleasure  for  the  rural 
communities.  In  our  barrio  schools,  the  possibihties 
of  the  use  of  the  phonograph,  the  teaching  of  songs 
that  may  be  sung  to  guitar  accompaniment,  and  even 
whistling  would  be  in  line  with  the  idea  of  instilling 
more  sunshine  in  the  hearts  of  the  barrio  children  and 
barrio  people,  and  are  worth  considering. 

The  problem  of  teacherage  is  an  important  problem 
in  connection  with  barrio  education.  A  teacher  can 
do  his  best  work  only  when  his  home  surroundings  are 
pleasant.  Not  always  is  it  possible  for  the  teacher  to 
secure  a  satisfactory  home  for  a  boarding  place.  The 
preparation  of  lessons  and  plans  for  the  following  day 
is  necessarily  done  in  the  evening,  and  it  is  essential 
that  the  teacher  have  a  private  room  in  which  the 
work  may  be  done  quietly  and  properly.  It  is  not  an 
occasion  for  much  wonder  that  barrio  teachers  often 
do  not  make  adequate  preparations  for  their  work, 
that  they  cannot  bear  the  strain,  and  that  they  do  not 
long  stay  in  their  stations,  as  long  as  their  home  sur- 
roundings are  not  made  pleasant.  The  suitable  so- 
lution in  most  cases  seems  to  be  the  provision  of  a 
teacher's  home  on  the  school  site.  This  is  not  a  Uto- 
pian dream.  Cases  there  have  been  in  various  places, 
especially  in  the  isolated  districts,  where  teacher's 
homes  have  been  provided.    In  a  barrio  of  La  Union, 


ACHIEVEMENTS  OF  A  PRACTICAL  CHARACTER    101 

years  ago,  the  people  built  not  only  a  school  building 
but  also  a  teacher's  home  on  a  standard  school  site 
donated  by  the  friends  of  the  school.  The  teacher  had 
an  opportunity  to  exert  an  influence  of  far-reaching 
effect  by  leading  a  home  life  above  the  standard  of 
the  ordinary  life  found  in  the  barrios.  The  teacher 
had  a  bed,  used  a  mosquito  net,  decorated  his  room, 
and  planted  shrubs  and  vines  around  the  house  and  also 
cultivated  a  lawn  in  front  of  it.  A  sanitary  outhouse 
near  by  was  available.  There  being  no  adequate 
water  supply,  the  teacher  used  only  boiled  water  for 
drinking  purposes.  In  other  words,  he  led  a  model 
sanitary  life  which  was  a  practical  sermon  in  right 
living  among  the  people  of  the  community. 

The  Department  of  Mindanao  and  Sulu  has  done  a 
good  deal  to  make  the  teacher's  life  pleasant  in  iso- 
lated districts  by  providing  teacher's  houses.  Min- 
danao thus  offers  advantages  in  this  respect  not 
commonly  enjoyed  in  other  divisions.  Coupled  with 
this  is  the  fact  that  generally  the  entrance  salaries 
for  teachers  who  go  to  the  Department  of  Mindanao 
and  Sulu  are  higher,  and  th^re  is  the  added  incentive 
of  a  privilege  of  acquiring  homesteads.  Mindanao  is 
teeming  with  hundreds  of  thousands  of  hectares  of 
the  best  and  most  fertile  agricultural  land,  and  the 
young  people  of  foresight  would  do  well  to  avail  them- 
selves of  the  opportunity  offered  in  the  South.  It 
should  be  stated  in  this  connection  that  not  a  single 
teacher  of  a  public  school  has  ever  been  molested. 
This  shows  conclusively  that  the  people  of  Mindanao 
and  Sulu  appreciate  their  brother  Filipinos  who  go 
there  on  a  mission  of  friendship  and  service. 


102      BARRIO  LIFE  AND  BARRIO  EDUCATION 

THEIFT 

Teachers  owe  it  to  themselves  to  exercise  and 
teach  thrift.  "Thrift  in  the  sense  that  it  must  be 
taught  by  our  schools  includes  more  than  the  mere 
saving  of  money.  This  is  its  most  elemental  meaning. 
In  the  wider  sense  it  includes  ability  to  make  the  most 
of  one's  environment  and  of  one's  self.  It  includes  the 
ability  to  make  a  hving  and  at  the  same  time  acquire 
a  competence.  In  addition  to  the  saving  of  money, 
the  thrifty  person  knows  how  to  save  time.  He  knows 
how  to  conserve  and  employ  his  time,  his  money, 
and  his  resources  to  the  best  advantage."  (9) 

Barrio  teachers  would  be  personally  benefited  by 
employing  their  leisure  moments  in  avocations  like 
gardening,  tree  planting,  and  poultry  raising,  besides 
conferring  a  benefit  upori  the  pupils  and  the  people 
which  cannot  be  overestimated.  Wearing  clean  and 
simple  clothes;  increasing  food  production;  preserving 
vegetables  and  fruits;  drying  camote  and  squash;  dem- 
onstrating labor-saving  devices;  economical  cooking; 
patronizing  the  postal  savings  bank  —  all  these  things 
suggest  possibilities  within  the  teacher's  reach  of 
leading  an  efficient  life  and  preparing  pupils  for  life. 
The  teacher's  duty  will  not  have  been  discharged  ef- 
fectively until  the  pupils  have  been  prepared  to  earn 
more  than  enough  to  feed  and  clothe  themselves  and 
until  they  have  been  led  to  form  the  habit  of  thrift, 
and  this  duty  cannot  be  properly  discharged  unless 
the  teacher  is  the  embodiment  of  what  he  preaches. 


ACHIEVEMENTS  OF  A  PRACTICAL  CHARACTER     103 


Sources  of  Quotations  and  References 

(1)  Bulletin  No.  37. 

(2)  Seventeenth  Annual  Report,  Table  No.  20. 

(3)  Seventeenth  Annual  Report,  p.  35. 

(4)  The  Philippine  Craftsman,  Vol.  IV,  pp.  429-450. 

(5)  The  Philippine  Craftsman,  Vol.  IV,  pp.  355-356. 

(6)  The  Philippine  Craftsman,  Vol.  V,  p.  702. 

(7)  Bataan  Division  Circular  No.  1,  s.  1916. 

(8)  Agricultural  Clubs  for  Filipino   Boys  and  Girls,  Organization 

Pamphlet. 

(9)  Duke,  E.  A.    A  Guide  to  Better  Schools,  p.  125. 

General  Bibliography 

1.  The  Philippine  Craftsman,  Vols.  I,  II,  III,  IV,  and  V. 

2.  National    Education    Association    Addresses    and    Proceedings, 

Vol.  LV. 

3.  Bureau  of  Education  Bulletin  No.  37.     School  Buildings  and 

Grounds. 

4.  Bureau  of  Education  Bulletin  No.  31.    School  and  Home  Garden- 

ing. 


CHAPTER  EIGHT 

Some  Problems  of  Organization,  Administra- 
tion, AND  Supervision 

It  has  been  stated  that  the  historical  order  in  which 
good  schools  are  secured  is  a  zigzag,  like  all  progress, 
and  is  as  follows:  (1) 

Money  (more  of  it  and  more  wisely  expended) 
Supervision  (more  and  better) 
Money  (more,  etc.) 

Administration  (better) 

Teaching  (better,  and  more  of  it) 
Money  (more,  etc.) 

Course  of  study  (broadened  and  improved) 
Money  (more,  etc.) 
Textbooks  (more  and  better) 
Money  (more,  etc.) 
Buildings  (better) 
Money  (more,  etc.) 
Equipment  (more,  and  better) 
Money  (more,  etc.) 
Then  repeat 

Continue  to  repeat  to  the  end  of  time. 

This  is  an  effective  way  of  presenting  the  all-im- 
portant fact  that  school  progress  has  for  its  solid 
foundation  the  financial  basis.  "The  initial  move- 
ment, more  money,  and  a  desire  for  better  conduct  of 
the  schools,  must  come  from  the  people.  Unless  there 
is  a  substantial  and  a  spontaneous  effort  by  the  com- 
munity to  get  better  schools,  there  can  be  found  no 
way  for  any  individuals,  whether  private  citizens  or 
public  office  holders,  to  secure  for  the  community 
better  schools."  The  financial  problem  —  how  to 
secure  more  money,  and  its  corollary,  how  it  may  be 
expended  more  wisely  —  therefore  becomes  a  primary 
educational  problem.     Paradoxical  as  it  might  seem, 

104 


ORGANIZATION,  ADMINISTRATION,  SUPERVISION   105 

better    education    necessitates    greater    burden;     free 
schools,  increased  taxation. 

According  to  the  Director  of  Education  in  his 
Seventeenth  Annual  Report,  the  cost  of  education  in 
the  Philippines  is  comparatively  low.  "Expenditures 
for  education,"  says  the  report,  "in  1915  amounted  to 
approximately  P7,430,243.90,  a  per  capita  cost  based 
on  population  of  P0.956,  as  compared  with  a  per  capita 
of  F13.30  in  the  United  States;  of  f  0.27  in  Java;  of 
PI. 10  in  Formosa;  and  of  P0.42  in  the  Federated 
Malay  States  and  Straits  Settlements."  (2) 

DISTRIBUTION   OF   SCHOOLS 

The  proper  distribution  of  barrio  schools  is  a  problem 
which  merits  thoughtful  study  and  careful  investiga- 
tion. Heretofore  it  seems  that  local  initiative  has 
been  the  chief  determining  factor.  Barrio  schools 
have  been  established  where  they  have  been  requested, 
or  where  the  people  were  willing  to  provide  sites  or 
erect  buildings,  and  where  funds  permitted  the  employ- 
ment of  teachers.  Local  initiative  and  popular  clamor 
and  desire  are,  to  be  sure,  exceedingly  important  and 
should  not  with  impunity  be  disregarded.  However, 
is  it  not  the  part  of  educational  statesmanship  to  ex- 
ercise foresight  and  establish  schools,  not  necessarily 
in  barrios  where  people  ask  for  them,  but  in  centrally 
located  barrios  or  those  with  possibilities  of  growth.? 
Is  it  not  the  part  of  wisdom  to  control  and  guide 
popular  desires,  even  at  the  risk  of  inviting  adverse 
criticism,  and  to  establish  schools  only  where  they 
should  be  and  where  they  ought  to  be?  Does  it  not 
pay  to  map  out  a  district,  province,  or  section,  study 
the  topography  of  the  region,  determine  the  distribu- 


106       BARRIO  LIFE  AND  BARRIO  EDUCATION 

tion  of  population,  know  the  distances  between  the 
town  and  each  barrio  and  between  the  barrios,  and  on 
the  basis  of  such  a  study  decide  with  insight  and  fore- 
sight where  barrio  schools  should  be  established? 
Surely  all  will  agree  that  it  is  necessary  to  have  a  well- 
defined  plan  and  policy  in  the  extension  of  barrio  schools 
and  the  estabhshment  of  new  ones.  As  in  sanitation, 
prevention  is  better  than  cure  in  barrio  education. 

PYRAMIDAL   ORGANIZATION 

In  the  organization  of  classes  teachers  and  prin- 
cipals have  been  at  times  myopic.  Schools  there 
have  been  where  there  were  first,  second,  and  fourth 
grade  classes  but  no  third  grade,  or  where  there  was 
but  one  class  of  each  grade.  An  arrangement  like 
either  of  these  is  indicative  of  a  lack  of  foresight. 
Far-seeing  organizers  provide  for  the  continuity  of 
classes.  They  look  far  enough  ahead  and  plan  for  the 
future.  They  see  to  it  that  there  is  some  sort  of  py- 
ramidal organization  of  classes,  as  it  were;  that  is  to 
say,  ordinarily  in  a  barrio  school  there  should  be  a 
greater  number  of  pupils  in  the  first  grade,  fewer  in 
the  second,  fewer  in  the  third  than  in  the  second,  and 
fewer  in  the  fourth  than  in  the  third,  and  so  on.  Just 
what  the  exact  ratio  should  be  it  is  difficult  to  say. 
Certainly  in  a  barrio  school  of  four  teachers,  it  would 
be  better  to  omit  the  establishment  of  a  fourth-grade 
class  of  from  7  to  10  pupils  one  year  if  by  so  doing 
it  would  be  possible  to  establish  an  additional  third- 
grade  class  of  from  15  to  25  pupils,  or  a  second- 
grade  class  of  from  30  to  40,  or  a  first-grade  class 
of  from  40  to  50,  and  thus  insure  the  continuity  of 
classes.    In   central   schools   as  in  barrio  schools  this 


ORGANIZATION,  ADMINISTRATION,  SUPERVISION    107 

pyramidal  organization  should  prevail.  The  central 
schools  should  be  organized  with  a  due  regard  to  the 
enrollment  of  barrio  schools  which  may  serve  as 
"feeders"  to  the  higher  classes.  The  ratio  of  pupils 
to  be  enrolled  in  the  different  grades  may  be  de- 
termined at  least  approximately  by  a  study  of  the 
retardation  and  promotion  in  the  various  grades, 
together  with  the  growth  of  the  population. 

Before  leaving  the  question  of  organizing  classes,  a 
few  questions  may  be  asked  that  may  prove  suggestive 
for  the  future.  Do  supervisory  officers  study  with  their 
teachers  before  school  opens  Forms  140,  Yearly  Class- 
room Reports,  or  Forms  XVIII  or  XVIII-A,  with  a 
view  to  having  tentative  lists  of  pupils  for  the  different 
classes  or  sections  .^^  Are  the  ratings  of  the  preceding 
year  being  used  as  much  as  possible  as  aids  in  as- 
signments of  pupils  to  the  classes  or  sections  to  which 
they  belong.'^  Is  there  any  conscious  attempt  to  regu- 
late the  size  of  classes,  the  number  of  classes  of  each 
grade,  so  as  to  assure  continuity  of  classes.? 

OVERCROWDED   CLASSES  AND   SPLIT   SESSIONS 

In  the  early  days  the  teachers  were  confronted  with 
the  problem  of  securing  pupils  to  attend  schools. 
Now,  and  this  is  in  itself  a  healthy  sign,  conditions 
are  exactly  the  reverse.  Not  how  to  get  pupils  to  school, 
but  how  best  to  deal  with  those  who  may  and  may  not 
be  admitted,  is  the  problem.  Due  to  the  excessive 
number  of  pupils  desiring  admission  to  the  public 
schools,  and  due  to  lack  of  sufficient  accommodations, 
teachers,  and  money,  many  classes  are  overcrowded 
in  many  places.  Partly  as  a  temporary  remedy  the 
"split  session"  scheme  was  adopted  in  places. 


108       BARRIO  LIFE  AND  BARRIO  EDUCATION 

By  split  session  is  meant  the  practice  of  having  a 
first-grade  or  second-grade  class  come  to  school  from 
7:30  till  10:00  in  the  morning  under  one  teacher  and 
another  class  of  third  or  fourth  grade  come  the  rest 
of  the  morning  and  part  of  the  afternoon  under  the 
same  teacher.  Ordinarily  the  first-grade  pupils  under 
the  split-session  arrangement  do  not  come  to  school  in 
the  afternoon,  while  the  second-grade  pupils  come 
part  of  the  time  in  the  afternoon. 

For  the  last  few  years  war  has  been  waged  against 
overcrowded  classes  and  split  sessions.  As  a  result, 
fewer  schools  now  have  split  sessions.  The  Director 
of  Education  in  1916  prescribed  the  maximum  num- 
ber of  pupils  permitted  to  attend  each  class  in  the 
elementary  and  secondary  schools.  The  limit  was 
rather  high,  but  nevertheless  the  desirable  goal  to 
work  for  was  indicated.  "If  it  were  possible,"  the 
Director  stated,  "at  the  present  time  to  fix  ideal 
standards  for  attendance,  this  oflfice  would  definitely 
prescribe  that  the  highest  number  of  pupils  in  any 
primary  grade  should  be  forty,  in  the  intermediate, 
thirty,  and  in  the  years  of  the  secondary  course,  twenty- 
five."  (3) 

DISADVANTAGES   OF   SPLIT   SESSIONS 

It  is  apparent  that  split  sessions  are  undesirable. 
Under  the  split-session  plan  the  course  of  study  cannot 
possibly  be  followed.  The  course  of  study  for  primary 
grades,  page  5,  for  example,  prescribes  that  in  the  first 
grade  1300  minutes  per  week  be  devoted  to  the  dif- 
ferent activities.  According  to  the  split-session  plan 
only  750  minutes  are  allowed  first-grade  pupils.  It  is 
thus  apparent  that  under  the  split-session  plan  only 


ORGANIZATION,  ADMINISTRATION,  SUPERVISION    109 

one  half  the  required  time  is  being  enjoyed  by  the 
first-grade  pupils.  It  is  therefore  evident  that  under 
the  split-session  plan  the  course  of  study  cannot  be 
followed. 

From  the  pedagogical  standpoint  split  sessions  are 
a  menace  to  the  efficiency  of  the  school  system,  be- 
cause no  ordinary  mortal  can  properly  handle  two 
classes  of  different  grades  averaging  about  50  to  60 
pupils,  have  blackboard  work  put  up,  correct  pupils' 
papers,  prepare  lesson  plans,  and  conduct  good  recita- 
tions. 

It  is  also  harmful  for  the  pupils  of  the  different 
grades,  because  pupils  of  different  ages  and  sizes  are 
compelled  to  sit  at  the  same  seats.  Consequently, 
this  anomaly  exists:  either  the  seats  are  too  high  for 
the  small  pupils,  or  they  are  too  low  for  the  larger 
pupils.  It  should  be  borne  in  mind  that  we  are  try- 
ing to  work  for  properly  adjusted  school  desks. 

The  existence  of  split  sessions  makes  it  impossible 
to  carry  out  the  blackboard  work  required  of  teachers. 
Those  who  have  seen  model  classes  are  aware  that  the 
sizes  of  letters  used  by  the  teacher  and  pupils  for  the 
different  grades  vary  and  that  the  distances  between 
the  lines  on  the  papers  and  on  the  blackboards  also 
vary  for  different  grades. 

It  is  also  an  administrative  and  financial  waste  for 
pupils  to  be  compelled  to  attend  classes  under  the 
split-session  plan,  because  it  is  obvious  that  if  pupils 
attend  only  half  of  the  time  required  by  the  course  of 
study,  the  vast  majority  of  them  cannot  finish  the  work 
of  the  grade  in  one  year. 

The  two-division  program  recommended  in  the 
Course  of  Study  for  Primary  Grades,  in  the  "Sug- 


110      BARRIO  LIFE  AND  BARRIO  EDUCATION 

gested  Daily  Programs  for  Primary  Schools"  and 
again  in  General  Instructions  No.  18,  s.  1917,  cannot 
be  carried  out  under  the  split-session  plan. 

It  is  also  difficult  to  maintain  the  best  order  and 
discipline  under  the  split-session  arrangement. 

From  all  points  of  view,  therefore,  the  best  educa- 
tional interests  demand  that  the  split-session  plan  be 
minimized  and  in  the  future  it  should  be  completely 
eradicated. 

PROMOTION,    RETARDATION,    ELIMINATION,    AND 
ACCELERATION 

The  problems  of  promotion,  retardation,  and  ac- 
celeration are  still  far  from  being  clearly  understood. 
It  is  known  in  a  general  way  that  among  the  main 
causes  of  low  promotion,  retardation,  and  elimina- 
tion are  split  sessions,  overcrowded  classes,  unfavorable 
school  environment,  ineffective  classroom  instruction, 
inadequate  supervision,  poor  transportation  and  roads, 
and  poverty  of  families.  It  is  not  definitely  known, 
however,  to  what  extent  each  is  responsible,  nor  is  it 
known  what  percentage  of  failures  is  due  to  each  of 
the  causes. 

What  may  best  be  done  to  improve  our  percentage 
of  promotion  and  the  system  of  grading  and  promotion? 
What  changes  should  be  effected  to  enable  a  greater 
number  of  pupils  to  finish  each  grade  on  the  average 
of  one  school  year.^*  What  are  the  most  efficacious 
remedies  to  minimize  retardation  and  elimination? 
How  may  the  normal  age  of  children  for  each  grade 
be  determined?  How  much  departure  from  the 
normal  age  should  be  allowed  within  the  same  section 
or  class?     What  should  be  done  with  the  very  dull 


ORGANIZATION,  ADMINISTRATION,  SUPERVISION    111 

pupils?  with  the  very  bright  pupils?  Is  it  not  desir- 
able to  accelerate  the  brighter  pupils?  If  so,  how  may 
it  best  be  done?  These  and  related  questions  are 
among  the  unsolved  problems  of  education. 

A  FEW  ADMINISTRATIVE  AND   SUPERVISORY   PROBLEMS 

Along  administrative  and  supervisory  lines  there  are 
many  problems  awaiting  further  study  and  investiga- 
tion. A  few  of  these  may  be  mentioned  in  the  form  of 
queries:  Can  there  be  found  a  better  basis  of  school 
taxation  that  will  be  more  welcomed  by  the  people 
and  will  increase  funds  for  educational  problems? 
How  may  regular  increase  of  revenues  be  secured, 
an  increase  which  may  be  in  a  measure  proportionate 
to  the  regular  annual  increase  of  the  number  of  pupils 
and  to  the  necessary  extension  of  educational  work? 
What  improvements  are  necessary  in  the  manner  of 
providing  sites  and  buildings  for  the  barrio  schools 
that  they  may  be  more  speedily  provided  and  that 
they  may  be  adequate  for  the  needs  of  the  future? 
What  may  be  done  further  to  make  the  barrio  school 
a  more  effective  social  ceiiter?  What  additional  re- 
sponsibilities and  obligations  may  safely  be  given  to 
the  school  as  a  social  institution  without  unduly  im- 
pairing its  efficiency  in  the  performance  of  the  func- 
tions peculiarly  its  own?  From  what  duties  may  the 
school  be  freed  in  order  that  it  shall  minister  more 
effectively  to  individual  and  social  needs?  How  may 
the  administration  of  barrio  education  —  academic, 
physical,  vocational,  social  —  be  carried  on  in  order 
that  the  education  received  may  function  more  ef- 
fectively in  the  barrio  home?  What  possible  and  de- 
sirable activities  may  be  carried  on  profitably  under 


112       BARRIO  LIFE  AND  BARRIO  EDUCATION 

the  auspices  of  the  barrio  school  to  reach  the  adult 
population? 

To  these  and  many  more  problems  which  are  more 
or  less  administrative  in  character  may  be  added 
supervisory  problems  that  are  equally  complex  and 
manifold:  Is  the  redistricting  of  provinces  feasible 
and  necessary  to  secure  closer,  more  frequent,  and 
more  effective  supervision  of  barrio  schools?  What  is 
the  desirable  size  of  a  district  for  purposes  of  su- 
pervision? To  what  extent  do  the  availability  of 
transportation  and  the  condition  of  roads  affect  the 
effectiveness  of  supervision?  Educationally,  what  is  the 
desirable  unit  of  supervision?  What  method  or  system 
should  be  adopted  by  district  supervisory  oflScers  in 
order  to  maintain  a  proper  balance  among  their  mani- 
fold duties  —  clerical,  reportorial  and  routine,  ad- 
ministrative, inspectorial,  and  supervisory?  What  is 
the  basis  of  distinction  between  these  main  duties? 
Is  it  not  desirable  that  the  fundamental  difference 
between  inspection  and  supervision  be  consciously 
recognized  by  the  supervisory  officer?  How  may  the 
supervisory  officer  make  his  visit  of  the  greatest  value 
to  the  barrio  teacher  and  the  barrio  school?  How 
should  his  time  be  arranged  and  allotted  so  that  the 
barrio  schools  get  their  proportional  share  of  super- 
vision of  the  extensive,  economical,  and  professional 
type?  What  attitude  should  the  supervisory  officer 
take,  and  how  should  he  deal  with  the  barrio  teacher  so 
that  he  may  be  looked  upon  not  as  a  spy  but  as  a 
genuine  friend  and  helper?  What  standards  should 
be  used  to  measure  results  and  progress  in  barrio 
schools?  How  should  measurement  of  results  and 
progress  be  carried  on?     How  should  criticisms  be 


ORGANIZATION,  ADMINISTRATION,  SUPERVISION   113 

offered  in  order  that  they  may  encourage  greater 
achievements  on  the  part  of  pupils  and  teachers? 
These  by  no  means  form  an  exhaustive  Hst  of  super- 
visory problems,  but  they  are  among  the  most  urgent 
and  vital  ones. 

In  connection  with  the  problems  of  supervision, 
the  following  special  points  are  deemed  essential:  (4) 

1.  That  the  duty  of  a  supervisory  officer  ordinarily 
is  to  make  good  better,  and  bad  good. 

2.  That  real  supervision,  not  mere  inspection,  is  to 
be  exercised. 

3.  That  all  supervisory  officers  insist  on  progress  to 
be  made  week  by  week  and  month  by  month,  and 

4.  That  in  the  course  of  their  supervision  they 
actually  measure  results  and  ascertain  the  work  that 
is  being  done  and  the  progress  that  is  being  made. 

Sources  of  Quotations  and  References 

(1)  Chancellor,  W.  E.     Our  Schools:    Their  Administration  and 

Supervision. 
{2)  Seventeenth  Annual  Report,  p.  50. 

(3)  General  Instructions  No.  29,  s.  1916. 

(4)  Syllabus  on  Philippine  School  Supervision. 

General  Bibliography 

1.  Bachman,    Frank    P.      Problems   in    Elementary   School   Ad- 

ministration. 

2.  Ayres,  Leonard  P.    School  Organization  and  Administration. 

3.  Button  and  Snedden.    Administration  of  Public  Education  in 

the  United  States. 

4.  FoGHT,  Harold  W.    Rural  Denmark  and  Its  Schools. 

5.  Hodges,  W.  T.    Important  Features  in  Rural  School  Improvement. 

6.  Betts  and  Hall.    Better  Rural  Schools. 

7.  CuBBERLEY,  Ellwood  P.    The  Portland  Survey. 

8.  Chancellor,  W.  E.     Our  Schools:    Their  Adininistration  and 

Supervision, 


CHAPTER  NINE 

Standardizing  Barrio  Schools 

Progress  among  barrio  schools  in  the  past  has  been  in 
spots  more  than  in  streams.  This  is  due  to  several 
factors,  but  chief  among  them  is  the  lack  of  a  well- 
defined  set  of  points  and  principles  to  serve  as  a  basis 
for  all  to  work.  It  is  not  the  contention,  of  course, 
that  there  should  be  fixed  points  for  which  to  work 
for  all  time.  When  the  points  to  be  considered  are 
fixed,  the  schools  are  in  danger  of  becoming  fossilized. 
Whatever  may  be  the  points  proposed  as  a  basis  for 
standardization,  they  must  be  changeable,  depending 
upon  changing  conditions,  in  order  that  educational 
work  may  be  progressive.  There  must  be  also  dynamic 
principles  behind  the  measures  or  standards,  to  give 
life  to  school  work. 

ENDS  SOUGHT   IN   STANDARDIZING 

The  movement  for  the  standardization  of  barrio 
schools  which  is  here  urged  has  for  its  chief  object  to 
make  definite  the  desirable  lines  of  progress  leading 
school  officers  and  progressive  patrons  of  the  school 
to  think  together,  plan  together,  and  pull  and  push 
together.  To  standardize  schools  means  to  urge 
balanced  progress.  This  is  done  by  measuring  the 
efficiency  of  instruction,  by  increasing  the  number  of 
children  and  adults  benefiting  by  school  activities,  by 
aiding  in  the  adjustment  of  school  training  to  social 
life,  by  minimizing,  and  if  possible  eliminating,  waste, 
and  by  setting  up  definite  objectives. 


lU 


STANDARDIZING  BARRIO  SCHOOLS  115 

SOME   PRECEDENTS  IN   STANDARDIZING 

In  West  Virginia  a  score  card  was  adopted  for  use 
among  county  superintendents.  The  efficiency  score 
card  provided  for  rating  country  schools  is  as  fol- 
lows: (1) 

Points 

1.  Grounds 10 

2.  Building 15 

3.  Light  and  ventilation 8 

4.  Decorations 8 

5.  Water  supply 10 

6.  Equipment 22 

7.  The  teacher _27 

Total  possible 100 

County  superintendents  rated  as  Class  A  those 
schools  scoring  between  90  and  100  points;  Class  B, 
those  between  80  and  90;  Class  C,  those  between  70 
and  80;  Class  D,  those  between  60  and  70;  and  Class 
E,  those  below  60. 

In  a  county  in  Pennsylvania  years  ago  a  scheme  of 
standardizing  was  begun  which  resulted  in  raising 
the  standard  and  in  the  improvement  of  many  one- 
teacher  schools  in  the  county.  The  following  is  a 
brief  description  of  how  the  scheme  worked:  (2) 

There  are  350  one-teacher  schools  in  the  county.  The 
standard  set  is  high.  The  scoring  is  done  by  the  super- 
intendent. A  four-page  circular  is  put  into  the  hands  of 
each  teacher,  setting  forth  50  minimum  requirements  for 
the  standard  school.  The  teacher  and  the  organization 
count  75  points,  the  physical  equipment,  including  build- 
ing, grounds,  sanitary  arrangements,  etc.,  25  points. 
Most  of  the  350  one-teacher  schools  have  come  up  to  the 
requirements  and  have  received  diplomas.  The  names  of 
these  schools  are  published  in  a  monthly  bulletin  issued 
by  the  county  superintendent. 


116      BARRIO  LIFE  AND  BARRIO  EDUCATION 

In  many  counties  in  Oregon,  wall  posters  are  supplied 
to  the  schools,  containing  a  list  of  standard  school 
points. 

When  the  county  superintendent  visits  the  schools,  he 
determines  in  what  points  the  school  is  satisfactory  and 
places  a  silver  star  on  the  poster  before  the  point.  When 
the  school  has  been  awarded  a  star  for  each  point  on  the 
poster,  it  is  given  a  pennant  bearing  the  words,  "Standard 
School.'* 

The  list  is  as  follows:    (3) 

Flag  —  Must  be  flying  in  good  weather 

Schoolhouse  —  Properly  lighted  and  ventilated 

Conditions  of  schoolroom  —  Attractive 

One  standard  picture  —  One  new  picture  during  the  year 

unless  four  good  ones  are  already  in  room 
Drinking  water  —  Either  fountain  or  tank  and  individual 

cups 
Outbuildings  —  Sanitary  all  the  time 
Walks  —  From  road  to  house;  from  house  to  outbuildings 
Grounds  —  Drained;  attractive;  flowers  on  grounds  or  in 

rooms 
Spelling  contests  —  Every  pupil  entered 
Discipline  —  Good  order  at  all  times 
Satisfactory  work  —  On  part  of  both  teacher  and  pupils 
Attendance  —  Average,  95  per  cent  for  year 
School  board  —  Teacher's  monthly  reports  must  show  at 

least  one  hour's  visit  by  one  or  more  members  of  the 

board  each  month 
Teacher  —  Attending  at  least  50  per  cent  of  teacher's 

institutes  and  subscribing  to  at  least  one  educational 

paper 

In  several  states  of  America,  either  at  the  initiative 
of  state  educational  departments  or  under  the  leader- 
ship of  county  boards  of  education  or  of  county  super- 
intendents, considerable  activity  has  been  displayed  in 


STANDARDIZING  BARRIO  SCHOOLS  117 

late  years  to  improve  the  physical  conditions  of  the 
rural  schools.  (4) 

One  plan  in  general  use,  which  has  been  successfully 
tried  by  several  county  superintendents,  is  as  follows: 
First,  the  authorities  fix  a  definition  of  a  "standard,** 
.  "superior,"  or  "improved"  school.  They  then  prepare 
score  cards  on  which  the  schools  may  be  rated;  and  a 
banner,  diploma,  or  plate  is  awarded  to  each  school  whose 
score  is  sufficiently  high.  In  many  cases  the  scheme  con- 
cerns itself  not  alone  with  the  physical  conditions  of  the 
school,  but  also  with  the  teacher,  the  course  of  study,  the 
program,  and  with  special  features  of  instructional  work. 

In  1911  some  such  plan  was  inaugurated  in  Illinois 
by  the  state  department  of  education.  Two  types  of 
rural  and  village  schools  are  recognized,  "standard" 
and  "superior."  The  state  department  awards  a 
plate  bearing  the  words  "Standard  School"  or  "Su- 
perior School"  to  the  school  reaching  the  desired 
standard.  The  school  receiving  it  is  privileged  to  in- 
stall the  plate  on  the  front  of  the  building,  where  it 
may  easily  be  seen  by  passers-by.  A  school  is  approved 
and  the  plate  is  awarded  only  after  a  personal  in- 
spection by  a  representative  of  the  state  department 
of  education.  The  plate  may  be  recalled  at  any  time 
if  the  school  falls  below  the  standard  requirements. 
The  representative  of  the  state  department  makes  visits 
for  the  purpose  of  determining  whether  schools  are  or 
are  not  entitled  to  recognition,  upon  the  invitation  of 
the  county  superintendent.  The  following  main 
points  are  considered:  yard  and  outhouses,  the  school- 
house,  furnishings  and  supplies,  the  organization  and 
the   teacher.      Each    of    these    points    is    subdivided. 

The  'standard  school'  is  one  *  which  has  all  that  a 


118       BARRIO  LIFE  AND  BARRIO  EDUCATION 

school  must  have  to  be  a  good  school.'  A  'superior 
school'  is  one  *  which  has  everything  that  a  school 
should  have  to  make  it  the  best  school.'" 

In  Alabama  a  scheme  similar  to  the  Illinois  plan  has 
been  adopted.  There  schools  are  also  approved  as 
"standard"  or  "superior."  They  are  scored  on  a 
percentage  basis,  a  maximum  of  20  per  cent  being  al- 
lowed on  buildings  and  grounds,  24  per  cent  on  equip- 
ment, 26  per  cent  on  vitalizing  agencies,  and  30  per 
cent  on  administration.  The  points  considered  differ 
somewhat  from  those  given  on  the  Illinois  require- 
ments. 

Any  school  scoring  100  per  cent  is  designated  "standard" 
and  is  awarded  a  special  diploma  by  the  State  department 
of  education.  Should  a  school  make  a  total  of  120  points, 
by  grading  on  any  or  all  of  the  items  considered  on  the 
score  card,  it  is  entitled  to  a  diploma  as  a  "superior 
school.**  Schools  graded  below  100  per  cent  on  the 
standard  school  basis  are  ranked  as  Grade  A,  B,  or  C, 
and  as  "scrub"  schools  if  their  rank  is  below  60  per  cent. 
The  scoring  is  done  by  the  State  supervisor  of  rural  schools 
if  practicable;  otherwise  by  a  local  committee  appouited 
by  the  State  superintendent  of  public  instruction. 

PHILIPPINE   EXPERIENCE 

In  some  divisions  or  districts  there  have  been  at- 
tempts more  or  less  to  standardize  schools  by  direct- 
ing the  attention  of  the  force  to  certain  definite  points 
to  work  for.  At  the  beginning  of  the  school  year 
1916-17,  supervision  in  the  Division  of  Mindoro  was 
systematized.  This  was  done  by  leading  the  super- 
visory officers  to  become  conscious  of  the  fourfold 
main  divisions  of  their  work  and  outlining  in  some 
detail  the  duties  incidental  to  the  work  of  supervi- 


STANDARDIZING  BARRIO  SCHOOLS  119 

sion.  (5)  This  was  followed  by  the  adoption  of  a 
division  form  for  inspection  and  supervision  which 
served  to  control  effort  in  the  direction  of  improving 
certain  definite  features.  The  division  form  was 
mimeographed  on  a  sheet  of  paper  about  8  by  10 
inches,  one  side  of  which  was  filled  by  the  several 
points  which  are  indicated  in  the  copy  of  it  given 
below;  the  other  side  was  left  blank  for  supervisory 
officers  to  write  in  it  the  helps  and  suggestions  given 
to  teachers  and  schools  visited.  One  copy  was  left 
with  the  teacher  or  school  concerned,  one  was  for  the 
supervising  teacher,  and  one  for  the  division  office. 
The  following  is  a  copy  of  the  division  form  in  question : 

Form  for  Inspection  and  Supervision 
District School or  Teacher 


I.   General  Information:   (Use  "Y"  for  "Yes"  and  "N" 
for  *'No"  in  blanks.) 

1.  Site:  adequate ;  free  from   weeds ;   free  from 

papers  and  rubbish ;    fenced  permanently ; 

temporarily ;  permanent  improvement  plan  made 

;  approved ;  lawn  Bermuda  grass,  any ; 

kept ;  mowed ;  walks,  laid  out ;  paved 

with   coral ;   cement ;     used ;    hedges, 

violet ;  hibiscus ;  trimmed . 

2.  Building   and  rooms:    clean ;  adequate ;  hy- 

gienic   . 

3.  Equipment:      Desks,      sufficient ;      adjusted 


aligned ;    cared    for ;    Blackboards,    framed 

;  of  proper  heights ;  four  in  each  class ; 

ruled,  single  line ;  with  indelible  pencil ;  of 

prescribed   distances ;   Teacher   has   chair ; 

table ;    aparador ;    Program   accurate ; 

posted ;  framed  in  wood  with  glass ;  Waste 

basket,  pne  in  each  room ;  used  by  pupils . 


120      BARRIO  LIFE  AND  BARRIO  EDUCATION 

4.  Outhouses:  one  for  girls ;  one  for  boys ;  screened 

with    vines ;    used ;    pit    system ;    pail 

system ;  fly  proof ;  kept  sanitary . 

5.  Forms y  reports,  and  records: 

Form    I,    neat ;    up-to-date ;    accurate ; 

Form  II,  and  24  or  48  kept  daily ;  accurately ; 

Forms  151,   152,   153,  satisfactory ;  Forms  100, 

101,  satisfactory ;  Forms  137,  138,  satisfactory 

;   Reports,    records,    correspondence,   filed ; 

systematically . 

6.  Attendance:      punctual ;      regular ;      continu- 

ous  . 

7.  Decorations:  G.  M.   &  R.   C.  pictures,  complete ; 

framed  in  wood  with  glass ;  properly  put  up ; 


Potted  plants  used ;  Good  pots  and  tripods  used 

;    Choice    orchids    hung ;    large    pictures, 

framed  in  wood  with  glass  used . 

8.  Discipline:  Formation  of  lines  orderly ;  unnecessary 

noise  made ;  mechanical  movements  automatized 

;  pupils*  places  defimite ;  known  and  followed 

;  girls  march  first ;  Voice,  in  class,  moderate; 

Teacher's ;  pupils' ;  Discipline  based  upon 

fear ;  interest  in  work ;  respect  of  authority 

;  love  of  order . 

9.  Athletics:  Schedules  posted ;  followed ;  every- 

body   engaged    in    athletics ;    Regular    practice 

carried  on . 

10.  Industrial:  Courses  prescribed  followed ;  everybody 

has  work ;  materials ;  tools  necessary . 

11.  Academic:    Course   of   study   known   by   teacher ; 

Copy    easily    accessible ;    Texts    sufficient    for 

pupils ;  Supplies  suflBcient ;  properly  cared 

for . 

II.   Some  Points  for  Supervision  of  Classroom  Instruction 

Aim:  Definiteness,  adequacy,  clearness.  Aim  of  recita- 
tion conducted  and  aim  in  lesson  plan  compared. 
Was  it  realized? 


STANDARDIZING  BARRIO  SCHOOLS  121 

Subject  Matter:  Organization.    Suitability  as  related 

to  aim.    Adaptability  to  grade  and  pupils.    Relation 

to  texts,  outlines  and  course. 
Methods:  Relation  to  subject  matter  and  aim;    kind 

of  procedure;  nature  of  question  and  answers. 
Teacher:  His  strong  points  and  weak  points. 
Help  and  Suggestions  Given.    (Write  on  the  back  of 

forms  in  triplicate.) 

Supervisory  Officer's  signature 


It  will  be  noticed  that  the  first  part  of  the  form 
mentions  a  good  many  matters  of  general  character 
which  supervisory  officers  should  pass  upon  in  their 
visits,  filling  out  the  blanks  with  the  appropriate  letters 
as  directed  in  the  form.  With  teachers,  principals, 
and  supervising  teachers  making  note  of  the  points 
needing  improvement,  a  greater  degree  of  cooperation 
can  be  secured  to  effect  such  changes  as  tend  to  im- 
prove conditions.  The  second  part  of  the  form  has 
to  do  with  supervision  of  instruction.  From  the  very 
nature  of  the  case,  it  is  necessary  to  mention  the  main 
points  in  general  terms.  In  the  exercise  of  supervision, 
the  supervisory  officer  must  be  guided  by  certain 
educational  principles,  and  this  being  so,  it  is  not  pos- 
sible to  put  down  very  specific  points,  to  be  followed 
in  every  recitation.  Certain  points,  however,  are 
emphasized,  namely:  that  in  both  the  academic  and 
industrial  activities  the  aim,  subject  matter,  and  method 
should  be  the  three  important  points  to  receive  atten- 
tion. The  teacher's  strong  and  weak  points  should  also 
be  considered.  If  the  suggestions  given,  together  with 
the  several  points  taken  ud,  were  studied  and  acted 
upon  in  our  schools,  especially  in  the  barrios,  concerted 
action  could  be  taken  to  effect  improvement.    (6) 


122      BARRIO  LIFE  AND  BARRIO  EDUCATION 

During  the  same  school  year,  systematic  effort  was 
put  forth  in  the  Division  of  Pangasinan  to  secure  greater 
efficiency  in  school  work.  In  a  circular  issued  early 
in  the  year,  certain  special  features  were  emphasized, 
although  conscious  effort  was  made  to  maintain  a 
proper  equilibrium  among  the  various  phases  of 
school  work.  Competition  was  carried  on  among  the 
various  elementary  schools,  including  the  barrios. 
Certain  well-defined  bases  were  specified,  among  which 
were  academic  work,  industrial  work,  athletics,  school 
buildings,  school  grounds,  hygienic  conditions  and 
ethical  conditions,  school  libraries  and  other  activities, 
support  of  the  school  by  the  community,  improvement 
of  the  schoolhouses  by  the  community,  industrial 
museum,  property  reports,  and  office  work.  Later  in 
the  same  school  year  a  more  detailed  efficiency  score 
card  was  issued,  giving  a  maximum  credit  of  35  points 
to  academic  work;  20  points  to  industrial  work; 
10  points  to  athletics;  12  points  to  school  buildings, 
equipment,  and  grounds;  5  points  for  hygienic  and 
ethical  conditions;  8  points  to  the  school  library;  4 
points  to  various  school  activities ;  6  to  property  reports 
and  office  work.  The  best  schools  in  each  district 
were  then  rated  by  the  division  office.  The  general 
average  for  each  school  rated  highest  in  each  district 
was  then  found,  and  the  winners  were  thus  determined. 

PROPOSED    REQUIREMENTS    FOR    STANDARDIZING 
BARRIO    SCHOOLS 

On  the  basis  of  a  study  made  of  American  and 
Philippine  experience,  a  plan  is  here  proposed  as  a  basis 
for  standardizing  barrio  schools.  As  fundamental 
principles  of  standardization  the  following   are  con- 


STANDARDIZING  BARRIO  SCHOOLS  123 

sidered:  (a)  sites  and  buildings,  (b)  equipment,  (c) 
organization,  instruction,  administration,  and  supervi- 
sion, (d)  vitalizing  agencies  and  miscellaneous  points. 

There  will  undoubtedly  be  difference  of  opinion  as 
to  the  special  points  that  should  be  included  in  the 
standardization  card  and  also  in  the  distribution  of 
weights.  As  stated  in  the  first  part  of  this  discussion, 
it  is  not  desirable  that  the  points  be  absolutely  fixed 
and  unchangeable.  At  certain  stated  periods  when 
there  is  a  shifting  of  emphasis  and  as  certain  conditions 
become  more  or  less  settled,  it  is  undoubtedly  wise 
to  change  the  points  and  perhaps  revise  the  distribu- 
tion of  weights.  Nevertheless,  the  writer  feels  that 
the  proposed  requirement  for  standardizing  is  worthy 
to  be  tried.  Experience  with  it  will  undoubtedly  lead 
to  improvement  of  the  plan. 

It  is  proposed  that  the  barrio  schools  in  each  dis- 
trict or  in  each  province  be  placed  in  competition, 
having  for  a  competitive  basis  the  points  indicated 
herein  or  such  additional  points  as  the  particular 
local  conditions  may  seem  to  warrant.  It  is  suggested 
that  a  plate  or  a  diploma  be  awarded  to  a  barrio  school 
fulfilling  the  requirements,  bearing  the  words  "Model 
School,"  "Standard  School,"  or  "Superior  School." 
If  these  terms  are  not  acceptable,  the  schools  may  be 
ranked  as  Class  C,  Class  B,  Class  A,  or  as  third  class, 
second  class,  or  first  class.  The  school  to  be  classified 
as  model  school,  or  as  Class  C  or  third  class,  should 
secure  at  least  85  to  90  points;  the  school  to  be  classi- 
fied as  standard  school.  Class  B  or  second  class,  should 
secure  a  rating  of  at  least  from  90  to  95  points;  and 
the  school  to  be  classified  as  superior  school.  Class  A 
or  first  class,  should  secure  a  rating  of  95  points  or  over. 


124      BARRIO  LIFE  AND  BARRIO  EDUCATION 

Tentative  Form  for  Standardizing  Barrio  Schools 


I.  Sites  and  buildings  —  10  points .  . . . 
(Select  only  10  items) 

1.  Site:  adequate,  first  class 

2.  Site:  permanent  plan,  improvement, 

cleanliness 

3.  Building  adequate 

4.  Building:  safety,  strength,  and  con- 

struction 

5.  Building:  clean,  painted,  in  good  re- 

pair   

6.  Two  outhouses  provided 

7.  Outhouses :  clean,  sanitary,  screened 

8.  Good  walks  provided 

9.  Good  strong  fence 

10.  Sufficient  trees  planted  and  cared  for 

11.  Lighting  and  ventilation  of  building. 

12.  Cleanliness  and  beauty  of  premises .  . 


IL   Equipment  —  10  pomts 

(Select  only  10  items) 

1.  Desks:  sufficient,  clean,  and  adjusted 

(required) 

2.  Desks:  alignment  and  arrangement . 

3.  Teacher's  chair  and  table 

4.  Aparador 

5.  Blackboards:  at  least  four  in  1  class, 

6.  Objects  for  teaching 

7.  Pictures,  properly  framed  and  hung . 

8.  Mottoes    and    programs,     properlj 

framed  and  hung 

9.  Globes,  maps,  charts 

10.  Library 

11.  Water  deposit  with  clean   artesian 

well  water  or  boiled  water 

12.  Care  and  filing  of  circulars,  instruc- 

tions, forms 

13.  Place  and  shelves,  or  care  of  property 

IIL  Organization,  Instruction,  Ad- 
ministration, and  Supervision  — 
70  points 


Points 
allowed 


10 


1 
1 
1 

1 
1 

1 
1 
1 

10 


70 


Points  given 


D.S. 


Supv. 


P 

or  T 


Average 


STANDARDIZING  BARRIO  SCHOOLS  125 

Tentative  Form  for  Standardizing  Barrio  Schools  —  Continued 


1.  Classes  of  proper  size 

2.  Pupils  properly  classified  and  graded 

3.  Pupils  furnished  with  texts 

4.  Course  of  study  studied  and  followed 

5.  Lesson  plans  satisfactory,  up-to-date 

6.  Teacher:   (12) 

a.  Personality  and  character .  . 

b.  Training  and  experience .... 

c.  Knowledge  of  subject  matter 

d.  Teaching  methods 

e.  Use  of  English 

/.     Influence  on  pupils 

g.   Influence  on  community 

h.   Attitude    to    co-workers    and 

criticisms 

i.   Quality  of  work  as  a  whole  .  .  . 

7.  Blackboard    work:     neatness,    suit- 

ability   

8.  Discipline 

9.  Academic 

Aim:  definiteness,  adequacy, 
suitability 

Subject  matter:  organization, 
suitability  as  related  to  aim, 
adaptability  to  grade  and  pupils, 
relation  to  texts,  outlines, 
course 

Method :  Organization,  relation 
to  subject  matter  and  aim,  kind 
of  procedure,  nature  of  questions 

and  answers 

10.   Industrial  work 

a.  Courses     prescribed     followed 

and  suitable 

b.  Work  and  materials  for  every 

pupil 

c.  Pupils'  understanding  of  work 

and  processes 

d.  Pupils'  skill  in  work 

e.  Pupils'  love  of  work 

/.    Proper  tools  used 


Points 
allowed 


2 
2 
1 
1 
3 
12 
2 
2 
2 
1 
1 
1 
1 

1 
1 

2 

2 

20 


Points  given 


D.S 


Suvp 


P 

orT 


Average 


126       BARRIO  LIFE  AND  BARRIO  EDUCATION 

Tentative  Form  for  Standardizing  Barrio  Schools  —  Continued 


11. 


12. 


13. 


g.   Speed  of  work 

h.  Quality  of  work 

i.    Disposition  of  products  ...... 

j.    Industrial  English. 

Athletics 

a.  Schedule      prepared,      posted, 

and  followed 

Everybody  takes  part  and  ex- 
ercises  regularly 

Clean,  wholesome  spirit 

Teacher  participates  in  pupils' 

games 

Athletic  courtesy 

Use  of  English 

Attendance:  punctuality,  regularity; 

continuity 

Care  of  books,   supplies,   and  other 
property 


rV.   Vitalizing    Agencies    and    Miscel 

laneous  —  10  points 

(Select  only  10  items) 

1.  Agricultural  clubs 

2.  Food-production  activities 

3.  Nurseries  and  fruit-tree  campaign .  .  . 

Musical  organizations 

Social  and  literary  societies 

Parents'  meetings 

Indoor  decoration 

Outdoor  aesthetics:    hedges,  flowerS; 

roses,    lawn,    climbing    vines,    or- 
chids, potted  plants,  etc 

Reading  circle 

Special  days:  Arbor  and  Bird  Day, 
Rizal  Day,  Garden  Day,  Health 
Day 

Civico-educational  movements .  .  . 

Better-baby  contests 

School  contests 

Total 


9. 
10. 


11. 
12. 
13. 


Points 
allowed 


10 

1 
1 
1 
1 
1 
1 
1 


D.S. 


Points  given 


Suvp. 


or  T 


Average 


STANDARDIZING  BARRIO  SCHOOLS  127 

It  will  be  noted  that  in  the  above  form  there  are 
six  columns.  The  first  column  contains  the  items  con- 
sidered; the  second  column  contains  the  maximum 
points  allowed;  the  third  column  allows  the  points 
given  by  the  Division  Superintendent  or  his  authorized 
representative;  the  fourth  column  allows  space  for 
points  given  by  the  supervising  teacher;  the  fifth 
column  allows  space  for  points  given  by  the  principal 
or  teacher;  the  sixth  and  last  column  allows  space 
for  the  average.  The  rating  awarded  may  of  course 
be  in  terms  of  units  or  fractions.  It  is  not  expected 
that  each  and  every  point  will  be  rated  by  three  dif- 
ferent persons.  It  is,  however,  desirable  that  each 
item  considered  be  rated  by  at  least  two  different  ones. 

In  running  a  competition  among  barrio  schools  in 
a  district  or  province,  the  following  suggestions  should 
be  borne  in  mind:  A  careful  plan  should  first  be  pre- 
pared; the  enthusiasm  of  supervising  teachers,  prin- 
cipals, and  teachers  should  be  enlisted;  the  objects 
should  be  explained,  special  emphasis  being  given 
to  the  desirability  of  raising  our  barrio  schools  to  a 
higher  plane;  the  details  Should  be  worked  out  and 
submitted  for  discussion  to  a  committee  of  representa- 
tives from  the  districts  or  schools  concerned  before 
definitely  launching  the  campaign;  equal  opportunity 
as  far  as  possible  should  be  given  to  all;  the  method  of 
scoring  should  be  made  clear  so  that  it  may  be  uni- 
formly applied;  and  an  impartial  judge  or  committee 
should  be  selected  to  render  the  final  decision  in  order 
that  the  competition  may  be  fair,  just,  and  reasonable. 
It  may  also  be  advisable  to  agree  upon  the  terms  or 
classification  to  be  used;  the  method  of  financing  the 
diplomas  or  plates  to  be  awarded,  and  the  way  they 


128      BARRIO  LIFE  AND  BARRIO  EDUCATION 

are  to  be  awarded.  It  should  be  clear  to  all  that  a 
pennant,  diploma,  or  plate  awarded  may  be  recalled 
if  the  school  falls  below  the  standards  set  after  secur- 
ing the  symbol  of  recognition. 

If  the  plan  herein  outlined  is  carried  out  properly; 
if  the  standards  set  are  high  and  the  method  of  rating 
strict;  if  the  symbol  of  recognition  is  awarded  on  the 
basis  of  real  merit,  then  the  movement  for  standardiz- 
ing barrio  schools  will  result  in  increasing  the  efficiency 
of  barrio  education  and  enriching  barrio  life. 

Sources  of  Quotations  and  References 

(1)  Commissioner  of  EdiLcation  Report,  1913,  Vol.  I,  p.  172. 

(2)  Ibid. 

(3)  Ibid.,  p.  174. 

(4)  Discussion  of  recent  tendencies  in  Commissioner  of  Education 

Report  and  in  Duke's  A  Guide  to  Better  Schools. 

(5)  Division  Circular,  Mindoro,  No.  20,  s.  1916. 

(6)  Division  Circular,  Mindoro,  No.  21,  s.  1916. 

(7)  Division    Circulars,   Pangasinan,   No.    44,    s.    1916;     No.    50, 

s.  1916;  No.  4,  s.  1917;  No.  16,  s.  1917;  No.  19,  s.  1917. 

General  Bibliography 

1.  CuBBERLEY,  E.  P.    Rural  Life  and  Education. 

2.  Betts  and  Hall.    Better  Rural  Schools. 

3.  Bachman,    Frank   P.      Problems    in    Elementary    School    Ad- 

ministration. 

4.  McMuRRY,  Frank  M.    Elementary  School  Standards. 

5.  Cook,  Katherine  M.,  and  Monahan,  A.  C.     Rural  School 

Supervision,  Bulletin,  No.  48,  1916,  U.  S.  Bureau  of  Edu- 
cation. 

6.  Hodges,  W.  T.     Important  Features  in  Rural  School  Improve- 

ment, Bulletin  No.  25,  1914,  U.  S.  Bureau  of  Education. 

7.  U.  S.  Commissioner  of  Education  Report,  1913,  Vol.  I,  pp.  157-210. 

8.  U.  S.  Commissioner  of  Education  Report,  1914,  Vol.  I,  pp.  99-125. 


CHAPTER  TEN 

Vitalizing  Agencies  of  Barrio  Life 

We  are  fast  learning  to  take  the  right  outlook  on  barrio 
life.  Our  barrio  inhabitants  must  learn  that  agricul- 
tural life  can  be  complete  in  itself.  The  barrio  farmers 
and  their  families  are  not  now  as  much  as  formerly 
subject  to  witty  lampooning  or  ridicule.  The  farmer 
as  a  factor  in  our  national  life  is  fast  coming  into  his 
own.  "With  the  conquest  of  the  soil  came  new, 
hitherto  unknown  powers."  Education  blazed  the 
path.  Education,  too,  shall  enable  the  farmer's  son 
or  daughter  to  "walk  with  kings  nor  lose  the  common 
touch." 

Denmark's  example:  an  inspiration 

The  example  of  Denmark  with  her  population  of 
about  3,000,000,  sixty-one  per  cent  of  which  may  be 
classed  as  rural,  should  be  a  great  inspiration  to  us. 
"Taken  as  a  whole,  nature  has  treated  Denmark  in  a 
stepmotherly  fashion  so  far  as  riches  of  soil  are  con- 
cerned. The  fact  that  the  country  is  producing  great 
crops  from  the  land  is  not  because  of  any  fresh,  virgin 
fertility  or  other  natural  resource,  but  because  of  the 
application  of  a  broad,  general  inteUigence  to  the  work 
of  building  up  a  naturally  meager  soil,  forcing  it  to 
produce  more  and  more."  This  much  handicapped 
country,  with  a  raw  and  inhospitable  climate  the 
greater  part  of  the  year,  has  waged  a  mighty  war 
against  nature,  "/n  less  than  two  generations  a  poorly 
ordered  agricultural  system  has  been  changed  to  the 
best  on  the  European  continent.''  Read  her  great 
achievement  as  expressed  in  the  amount  of  annual 
exports:  (1) 

129 


130       BARRIO  LIFE  AND  BARRIO  EDUCATION 

In  1881,  just  before  cooperative  enterprise  among  the 
farmers  had  begun  to  be  felt,  the  net  export  in  the  three 
farm  staples  —  butter,  bacon,  and  eggs  —  was  valued  at 
$12,010,000.  In  1904  it  had  increased  to  $68,070,000, 
and  only  eight  years  later  had  reached  the  surprisingly 
large  sum  of  $125,000,000.  Such  figures  as  these  can  be 
explained  only  in  a  rapidly  growing  knowledge  of  agri- 
cultural production  and  a  scientific  handling  and  marketing 
of  the  products  —  all  of  which  has  come  to  the  people 
through  a  system  of  schools  peculiarly  adapted  to  rural 
needs. 

Ponder  long  on  Denmark's  record!  Ponder  longer 
on  what  we  could  do  and  should  do  with  our  popula- 
tion, four  times  that  of  Denmark,  with  a  country 
blessed  with  natural  resources  untold,  and  with  soil 
in  fertility  unexcelled! 

VITALIZED   SCHOOLS 

A  new  barrio  life  is  dawning.  Conditions  are  rapidly 
changing,  necessitating  readjustments.  The  barrio 
school  has  been  for  some  time  the  most  eflScient  social 
institution  in  barrio  communities,  and  if  it  is  to  hold 
this  enviable  position  it  must  be  vitalized.  The  barrio 
school  needs  a  new  and  better-paid  teacher,  more  ef- 
fective teaching,  and  expert  supervision  which  has  for 
its  primary  object  the  increasing  of  teaching  power 
and  teaching  effectiveness.  It  needs  a  school  official 
deeply  sympathetic  with,  and  interested  in,  child  and 
community  life.  The  vitalized  barrio  school  must  be 
consecrated  to  the  service  of  child  development  and 
community  uplift.  We  shall  now  pass  in  rapid  review 
some  of  the  vitalizing  agencies  of  barrio  life  and  barrio 
education. 


VITALIZING  AGENCIES  OF  BARRIO  LIFE       131 

GARDENING 

Gardening  for  boys  and  cooking  and  plain  sewing 
for  girls  are  the  most  important  industrial  courses  for 
barrio  children.  The  primary  object  of  gardening  is 
to  help  elevate  the  standard  of  living  and  to  increase, 
vary,  and  improve  the  diet  of  the  people.  The  barrio 
school  must  help  the  farmer  to  obtain  greater  returns 
from  his  labor.  Our  farmers  are  among  the  hardest- 
working  and  most  frugal  elements  in  our  population, 
but  much  of  their  labor  goes  for  naught  through  lack 
of  proper  knowledge,  skill,  and  tools  to  obtain  the 
largest  returns  from  the  labor  expended.  It  is  safe 
to  state  that  they  could  increase  their  products  and 
profits  manifold  with  little  or  no  additional  labor  if 
they  would  put  into  practice  the  simple  lessons  of 
proper  seed  selection,  stock  breeding,  irrigation,  and 
cultivation.  "And  the  most  natural  and  effective  way 
to  put  the  farmer  into  possession  of  the  scientific  knowl- 
edge and  skill  required  is  through  the  rural  school."  (2) 

AGRICULTURAL  CLUBS 

In  1916  agricultural  clubs  for  Filipino  boys  and 
girls  were  organized.  (3)  These  clubs  provide  op- 
portunity for  boys  and  girls  in  our  public  schools  to 
enroll  in  one  of  the  following  contests:  vegetable- 
gardening  contest,  hog-raising  contest,  chicken-raising 
contest,  corn-growing  contest,  fruit-growing  contest, 
and  cooking  contest.  These  activities  are  encouraged 
primarily  as  home  projects,  and  pupils  doing  satis- 
factory work  and  meeting  the  requirements  are  given 
credit.  The  policy  has  been  not  so  much  to  enroll 
the  greatest  possible  number  of  members  in  these 
clubs  as  to  enroll  only  those  who  are  likely  to  make  a 


132      BARRIO  LIFE  AND  BARRIO  EDUCATION 

success  of  the  projects  undertaken.  An  additional  in- 
centive was  given  last  year  when  club  uniforms  and 
club  pins  were  recommended  for  use  among  club 
members.  New  clubs  are  established  only  as  efficient 
supervision  and  efficient  work  can  be  assured.  Last 
year  the  club  boys  in  fruit  growing  planted  27,592 
fruit  trees.  Other  boys  planted  83,524  fruit  trees. 
The  following  statistics  in  hog  raising  and  poultry 
raising  for  the  year  1917-18  will  be  of  interest: 

Hog  raising: 

School  with  Berkshire  hogs 28 

Public  breeding  boars 28 

Hogs  raised 5,900 

Poultry  raising: 

Schools  with  Cantonese  stock 50 

Poultry  distributed 12,879 

Chickens  raised 138,120 

FRUIT   TREES  AND   NURSERIES 

There  are  other  features  of  barrio  school  activities 
that  promote  agricultural  development.  Practically 
every  division  has  a  fruit-tree  campaign  going  on, 
and  the  barrio  schools  play  a  prominent  part.  In 
these    campaigns    division    superintendents    plan    the 

*  A  very  marked  advance  in  animal  husbandry  was  made  during  1919. 
The  school  farms  were  better  supplied  with  work  animals  than  ever  before. 
All  animal  projects  have  thrived.  This  feature  of  the  school  work  has  done 
much  to  improve  the  livestock  of  farmers  residing  in  localities  where  schools 
are  located.  The  extent  of  the  animal-husbandry  work  undertaken  is  shown 
by  the  fact  that  on  March  31,  1919,  there  was  a  total  of  111,556  chickens  at 
860  schools;  a  total  of  4826  hogs  at  313  schools;  a  total  of  250  heads  of  range 
cattle  at  9  schools;  and  a  total  of  360  carabaos  and  bullocks  at  123  schools. 

During  the  year  1919  public  school  pupils  raised  and  disposed  of  243,268 
chickens  and  10,504  hogs  in  addition  to  the  chickens  and  hogs  kept  for  breed- 
ing purposes  at  the  schools.  Practically  all  the  meat  consumed  by  pupils 
who  are  subsisted  on  school  farms  is  raised  by  the  pupils  themselves. 
Twentieth  Annual  Report  of  the  Director  of  Education,  p.  40. 


Bureau  of  Education,  Manila,  P.  I. 
A  typical  barrio  school  garden. 


Bureau  of  Education,  Manila,  P.  I. 

A  boy  with  his  poultry  project. 


VITALIZING  AGENCIES  OF  BARRIO  LIFE      133 

work  for  the  division,  study  the  fruit  trees  or  plants 
most  suitable  for  cultivation  in  the  different  localities, 
and  encourage  all  the  students  —  and  require  a  certain 
number  —  to  engage  in  this  work.  The  Arbor  Day 
activities  of  course  are  eminently  agricultural  in  their 
nature,  and  this  annual  festivity  has  been  broadened 
in  its  scope  in  recent  years  through  the  action  of  the 
Governor-General,  who  annually  issues  a  proclamation 
making  Arbor  Day  a  general  festivity  for  the  people  of 
these  Islands.  For  the  last  few  years,  in  connection  with 
the  observance  of  Arbor  Day,  emphasis  in  the  planting 
of  trees  was  placed  in  the  following  order: 

(1)  First  emphasis  should  be  given  papayas,  bananas, 
and  all  trees  the  fruit  of  which  will  increase  the  food  supply 
of  the  people. 

(2)  Next,  emphasis  should  be  given  such  shade  trees 
as  have  an  economic  value,  due  to  the  commercial  value 
of  the  wood  or  seed. 

(3)  Of  third  importance  should  be  those  shade  trees 
which  are  also  ornamental. 

Nurseries  are  necessary  adjuncts  to  the  fruit-tree 
campaign.  In  the  care  and  cultivation  of  school 
nurseries  emphasis  is  placed  upon  the  propagation, 
distribution,  and  planting  of  trees  possessing  economic 
value.  During  the  school  year  1916-17,  1114  schools 
had  nurseries,  more  than  95,000  fruit  trees  were  dis- 
tributed, more  than  255,000  fruit  trees  were  planted 
and  cared  for  by  pupils,  and  more  than  190,000  trees 
of  all  kinds  were  growing  in  school  nurseries  at  the  end 
of  the  school  year.  (4) 


134       BARRIO  LIFE  AND  BARRIO  EDUCATION 


FOOD-PRODUCTION  CAMPAIGN 

The  gardening  work,  the  agricultural  club  activities, 
the  cultivation  of  nurseries,  and  the  fruit-tree  campaign 
are  all  activities  carried  on  in  schools  that  contribute 
toward  the  general  food-production  campaign.  Our 
schools,  during  the  school  year  1917-18,  were  asked 
by  the  Director  of  Education  "to  double  the  area  of 
school  and  home  gardens  and  at  least  to  double  the 
production."  Commenting  on  the  response  the  Di- 
rector said,  "Reports  recently  received  indicate  that 
these  results  are  being  attained  and  in  a  number  of 
eases  surpassed."  (5) 

While  the  educational  phase  is  held  to  be  the  first 
essential  in  this  movement,  the  economic  phase  also 
is  given  due  attention.  The  estimated  value  of  garden- 
ing and  agricultural  products  for  the  school  year  1919-20 
is  as  follows: 

Gardening F633,000 

Settlement  farm  schools 165,554 

Farm  schools 56,086 

Agricultm-al   schools 119,505 

Agricultm-al  clubs 364,656 

Total Pl,338,801 

The  campaign  for  better  and  greater  food  pro- 
duction is  a  patriotic  and  necessary  movement.  It  is 
a  movement  that  should  be  kept  up  vigorously  and 
indefinitely.  In  this  great  and  important  task  the 
barrio  schools  should  play  an  active  part.  In  addition 
to  the  work  definitely  outlined  for  them,  they  should 
assist  by  serving  as  a  medium  of  information  to  adults, 
by  lectures  on  agricultural  subjects,  and  by  demon- 


VITALIZING  AGENCIES  OF  BARRIO  LIFE       135 

strating,  through  Garden  Days  and  alHed  activities, 
improved  methods  of  farming,  poultry,  and  animal 
culture. 

SPECIAL  DAYS 

One  special  day,  Garden  Day,  has  already  been  re- 
ferred to.  The  barrio  school  can  widen  the  scope  of 
its  influence  through  the  observance  of  other  special 
days.  Among  these  may  be  mentioned  Arbor  Day 
and  Bird  Day,  Health  Day,  and  Rizal  Day.  The 
annual  celebration  of  Arbor  Day  and  Bird  Day  fur- 
nishes an  excellent  opportunity  for  barrio  people  to 
get  together  and  to  think  and  learn  about  the  eco- 
nomic and  aesthetic  value  of  trees,  plants,  and  birds. 
We  are  not  generally  conscious  that  "birds  are  a 
great  aid  to  man  in  his  battle  against  insects.  Were 
it  not  for  the  birds,  those  insects  which  destroy  fruits, 
grains,  and  trees  would  be  far  more  abundant  than 
they  now  are.  They  can  be  made  less  abundant  if 
the  insectivorous  birds  are  encouraged  and  protected. 
Birds  are  the  farmers'  friends."  (6)  There  should  be 
a  celebration  dedicated  to  improvement  of  health  and 
sanitary  conditions.  A  national  Health  Day  at  least 
once  a  year  would  be  a  great  blessing  to  the  country. 
On  such  occasions  one  or  two  matters  should  be  given 
prominence  each  year.  A  Health  Day  devoted  to  en- 
couraging the  use  of  boiled  water  for  drinking  purposes, 
where  there  is  no  pure  artesian  well-water  supply, 
and  to  the  improvement  of  outhouses  would  work 
wonders  in  the  Philippines.  Rizal  Day  is  of  course 
widely  observed,  and  rightly.  The  people  become  one 
in  the  observance  of  December  30,  because  they  direct 
their  thoughts  to  the  life  and  virtues  of  their  greatest 
national  hero.     Rizal  Day  programs  are,  like  every- 


136      BARRIO  LIFE  AND  BARRIO  EDUCATION 

thing  else,  becoming  more  practical.  In  1917  one  of 
the  prominent  features  of  the  Rizal  Day  celebration 
in  Manila  was  the  Better  Babies'  Contest.  Certainly 
there  is  no  single  feature  that  is  more  in  accord  with 
the  spirit  of  Rizal  than  this,  which  makes  for  the  re- 
duction of  infant  mortality,  for  the  improvement  of 
children,  and  for  the  strengthening  of  the  race. 

CIVICO-EDUCATIONAL   LECTURES 

The  Philippine  Legislature,  in  Act  No.  1829,  pro- 
vided that  "in  each  municipahty  of  the  Philippine 
Islands,  where  possible,  principally  in  the  barrios  of 
the  same,  popular  civico-educational  lectures  shall  be 
delivered  in  any  of  the  dialects  of  the  locality."  (7) 

The  lectures  shall  treat  of  the  rights  and  duties  of  the 
citizen,  the  Municipal  Code  and  Provincial  Government 
Act,  the  organization  of  the  Central  Government,  of 
knowledge  or  popular  notions  of  certain  common  crimes, 
and  of  any  laws  which  are  important  in  the  judgment  of 
the  Director  of  Education,  as  well  as  of  industry  and 
commerce,  especially  the  mining  industry,  manufacturing, 
the  breeding  and  care  of  animals,  and  the  care  and  irrigation 
of  plants  and  trees;  and  in  addition  of  a  varied  knowledge 
of  geography  and  history.  (8) 

Teachers  and  other  persons  qualified  have  served  as 
lecturers.  Among  the  subjects  of  lectures  prepared 
are  Good  Citizenship,  Good  Manners  and  Right  Con- 
duct, Agriculture  and  Other  Industries  as  Honorable 
Vocations,  Rice  Culture,  Corn,  Coconut  Beetles,  A 
Garden  for  Every  Home,  Care  and  Treatment  of 
Domestic  Animals,  The  Care  of  Children,  and  Pre- 
vention of  Diseases. 


VITALIZING  AGENCIES  OF  BARRIO  LIFE      137 

SOCIAL  AND   LITERARY  ACTIVITIES 

As  it  exists  at  present,  the  barrio  community  offers 
very  limited  opportunities  for  social  mingling  in 
neighborhood  groups.  There  is  danger  of  social  mo- 
notony and  stagnation.  "The  nature  of  the  work  both 
in  home  and  in  field,  the  insistent  and  pressing  toil 
during  the  greater  part  of  the  year,  and  the  isolation 
of  the  farm,  all  tend  to  an  unvarying  sameness  of  life 
and  experience."  (9)  Unrelieved  routine  is  deadening. 
The  barrio  school  must  see  and  feel  its  obligation,  in 
the  absence  of  other  institutions,  to  undertake  the 
task,  to  relieve  this  monotony  and  prevent  mental, 
social,  and  moral  atrophy.  This  it  can  do  in  part  by 
providing  greater  opportunities  for  literary  and  social 
gatherings  and  entertainments. 

School  contests  —  academic,  industrial,  athletic  — 
have  a  great  drawing  power,  and  school  patrons,  if 
invited  or  informed,  attend  and  enjoy  these  contests 
where  children  whom  they  know  take  part,  and  per- 
haps other  children  from  the  town  and  other  barrios. 
Literary  and  social  programs  on  some  evenings  or  on 
special  days  would  be  a  source  of  profit  and  enjoy- 
ment to  our  barrio  communities,  and  they  would  also 
serve  to  strengthen  the  position  of  the  barrio  school 
as  a  social  center.  Musical  organizations  may  be 
formed,  consisting  of  school  children  or  outsiders,  to 
enliven  these  entertainments  and  perhaps  give  modest 
concerts  on  Sundays  or  holidays,  or  to  furnish  music 
for  some  social  gatherings.  Parents'  meetings,  properly 
organized  and  conducted,  also  would  serve  a  good 
purpose  in  bringing  parents  together  and  in  forming  a 
closer  relationship  between  parents  and  teachers, 
thus  closing  the  gap  between  the  school  and  the  home. 


138      BARRIO  LIFE  AND  BARRIO  EDUCATION 

LIBRARIES   AND   READING   CIRCLES 

Much  has  been  done  in  the  past  in  the  direction  of 
encouraging  teachers  and  pupils  to  acquire  the  reading 
habit.  The  development  of  libraries  in  the  barrio 
schools  is  the  next  logical  step.  Meanwhile  the  ad- 
visability of  organizing  barrio  reading  circles  should 
be  carefully  considered.  These  circles  may  from  time 
to  time  hold  meetings  which  even  illiterate  adults 
may  attend.  For  the  benefit  of  these  barrio  adults 
some  of  the  members  may  be  assigned  to  read  or  sum- 
marize orally  some  of  the  more  important  news  and 
events.  Activities  of  this  nature  would  in  a  measure 
serve  to  give  many  barrio  folks  a  peep  into  the  world 
of  events  of  which  they  are  now  more  or  less  ignorant. 

ADULT   SCHOOLS 

In  this  connection  an  extension  activity  of  the  barrio 
schools  designed  to  meet  the  adults  may  be  men- 
tioned, the  organization  of  adult  classes  especially  for 
the  illiterates.  Once  a  week  on  some  evening,  or 
twice  a  month,  the  busy  teacher  may  hold  classes  for 
them,  to  teach  very  elementary  lessons  in  the  three 
R's  —  "Reading,  'riting,  and  'rithmetic."  From  time 
to  time  teachers  of  central  schools  may  be  invited  to 
help  in  these  classes.  If  these  classes  accomplish 
nothing  more  than  to  teach  men  now  illiterate  to  wTite 
their  names  and  candidates'  names,  they  would  serve 
a  useful  purpose  in  assisting  to  secure  a  clean  ballot 
and  a  cleaner  body  politic. 


VITALIZING  AGENCIES  OF  BARRIO  LIFE       139 

DECORATION  AND  ART 

One  of  the  many  things  that  would  bring  greater 
contentment  in  barrio  Ufe  is  improvement  in  indoor 
art  and  decoration  and  landscape  gardening.  The 
inartistic  devices  consisting  of  unsuitable  pictures, 
shabby  and  poorly  placed  objects,  withered  leaves, 
festoons  of  gaudy  colors,  and  unattractive  artificial 
flowers,  now  so  common  in  barrio  home  and  school, 
should  be  replaced  with  more  appropriate  decoration. 
A  limited  number  of  portraits  of  heroes,  and  other 
good  pictures  well  framed  and  suitably  placed,  if 
brought  into  the  homes  and  school,  would  help  a  great 
deal. 

Ours  is  a  country  with  unlimited  possibilities  for 
beautifying.  Outdoor  art  and  landscape  gardening 
must  be  given  attention.  There  should  be  a  greater 
activity  put  forth  in  the  cultivation  of  lawns,  hedges, 
roses  and  other  flowers,  and  decorative  plants.  Out- 
houses, fences,  and  houses  that  now  are  eyesores  could 
be  made  attractive  by  the  use  of  climbing  vines,  shrubs, 
and  trees  for  screening  purf)oses.  In  all  this  question 
of  outdoor  art,  cleanliness,  neatness,  and  orderliness 
are  paramount. 

CONCLUSION  AND  APPEAL 

Barrio  schools  must  tend  toward  the  practical;  yet 
we  must  realize  that  there  is  culture  in  agriculture, 
in  manual  labor,  and  in  the  practical  subjects  that 
concern  us  daily.  What  makes  our  country  great? 
The  products,  the  human  products,  of  our  public 
schools. 


140      BARRIO  LIFE  AND  BARRIO  EDUCATION 

Not  high-raised  battlement  or  labored  mound, 

Thick  wall  or  moated  gate; 
Not  cities  proud  with  spires  and  turrets  crowned; 

Not  bays  and  broad  armed  ports, 
Where,  laughing  at  the  storm,  rich  navies  ride; 

Not  starred  and  spangled  courts, 
Where  low-browed  baseness  wafts  perfume  to  pride. 

No!  Men,  high-minded  men. 
With  powers  as  far  above  dull  brutes  endued  — 

In  forest,  brake,  or  den  — 
As  beasts  excel  cold  rocks  and  brambles  rude; 

Men  who  their  duties  know. 
But  know  their  rights,  and,  knowing,  dare  maintain. 

The  field  of  barrio  education  offers  unlimited  oppor- 
tunity for  the  young  man  or  woman  who  takes  barrio 
teaching  seriously.  Barrio  education  demands  barrio 
leadership.  The  teacher  must  give  himself  unstintedly 
to  his  work,  withholding  nothing  of  time,  personality, 
or  effort  in  the  service  of  his  school.  The  problem  of 
barrio  life  and  barrio  education  is  a  national  problem. 
We  must  bear  in  mind  the  words  of  that  great  leader 
and  prophet,  Woodrow  Wilson,  in  expressing  his  faith 
in  the  common  people  and  common  schools: 

We  overlook  the  fact  that  the  real  sources  of  leadership 
in  the  community  come  from  the  bottom.  We  must  see 
to  it  that  the  bottom  is  left  open;  we  must  see  to  it  that 
the  soil  of  the  common  feeling,  of  the  common  conscious- 
ness, is  always  fertile  and  unclogged,  for  there  can  be  no 
fruit  unless  the  roots  touch  the  rich  sources  of  life. 

And  it  seems  to  me  that  the  schoolhouses  dotted  here, 
there,  and  everywhere  over  the  great  expanse  of  this 
nation  will  some  day  prove  to  be  the  roots  of  that  great 
tree  of  liberty  which  shall  spread  for  the  sustenance  and 
protection  of  all  mankind. 


VITALIZING  AGENCIES  OF  BARRIO  LIFE      141 

Sources  of  Quotations  and  References 

(1)  FoGHT,  H.  W.    Rural  Denmark  and  Its  Schools,  Ch.  I. 

(2)  Betts  and  Hall.    Better  Rural  Schools,  p.  26. 

(S)  Organization  Pamphlet,  Agricultural   Clubs  for  Filipino  Boys 
and  Girls. 

(4)  Table  18,  p.  145,  Eighteenth  Annual  Report  of  the  Director  of 

Education. 

(5)  Eighteenth  Annual  Report  of  the  Director  of  Education,  p.  50 

(6)  Bulletin  No.  50,  Bureau  of  Education,  p.  43. 

(7)  Act  No.  1829,  sec.  1. 

(8)  Act  No.  1829,  sec.  3. 

(9)  Betts  and  Hall.    Better  Rural  Schools,  p.  246. 

General  Bibliography 

1.  Kern,  O.  J.    Among  Country  Schools. 

2.  Betts  and  Hall.     Better  Rural  Schools. 

3.  Cubberley,  E.  p.     Rural  Life  and  Education, 

4.  .    The  Improvement  of  Rural  Schools. 

5.  FoGHT,  W.  H.     Rural  Denmark  and  Its  Schools, 

6.  Duke,  E.  A.     A  Guide  to  Better  Schools. 

7.  Carver,  T.  N.     The  Principles  of  Rural  Economics, 

8.  Wilson,  W.  H.     The  Church  and  the  Rural  Community 

9.  Bailey,  L.  H.     The  Country-Life  Movement. 

10.  .     The  Training  of  Farmers. 

11.  Davenport,  Mrs.  E.    Possibilities  of  the  Country  Home, 

12.  Carney,  Mabel.    Country  Life  and  the  Country  School. 

13.  Monahan,  a.  C,  and  Wright,  R.  H.    Training  Courses  for 

Rural  Teachers. 

14.  Eighteenth  Annual  Report  of  the  Director  of  Education, 


APPENDIX  A 

FOURTH  PHILIPPINE  LEGISLATURE)  ^  ^^   ^^^ 

Third  Session  ) 

(No.  2782) 

An  Act  Appropriating  the  Sum  of  Thirty  Million 
Seven  Hundred  and  Five  Thousand  Eight  Hundred 
AND  Twenty-four  Pesos  for  the  Extension  of 
Free  Elemental  Instruction  to  All  Children  of 
School  Age 

Be  it  enacted  by  the  Senate  and  House  of  Representatives 
of  the  Philippines  in  Legislature  assembled  and  by  the 
authority  of  the  same: 

Sec.  1.  There  is  hereby  appropriated,  out  of  any  funds 
in  the  Insular  Treasury  not  otherwise  appropriated,  the  sum 
of  thirty  million  seven  hundred  and  five  thousand  eight 
hundred  and  twenty-four  pesos,  or  such  part  thereof  as  may 
be  necessary,  for  the  purpose  of  extending  the  facilities  of 
free  elemental  instruction  to  all  the  children  of  school  age 
of  the  Archipelago.  Of  this  sum  there  shall  be  available  for 
investment  on  the  first  of  January,  nineteen  hundred  and 
nineteen,  the  sum  of  seven  hundred  and  thirty-five  thousand 
pesos;  on  the  first  of  January,  nineteen  hundred  and  twenty, 
the  sum  of  three  million  nine  hundred  and  nineteen  thousand 
pesos;  on  the  first  of  January,  nineteen  hundred  and  twenty- 
one,  the  sum  of  six  million  three  hundred  and  ^ve  thousand 
four  hundred  pesos;  on  the  first  of  January,  nineteen  hundred 
and  twenty-two,  the  sum  of  eight  million  seven  hundred  and 
ten  thousand  four  hundred  and  forty  pesos;  and  on  the 
first  of  January,  nineteen  hundred  and  twenty-three,  the 
sum  of  eleven  million  thirty-five  thousand  nine  hundred  and 
eighty-four  pesos. 

The  sums  so  appropriated  shall  be  in  addition  to  the  sums 
appropriated  in  the  annual  appropriations  for  the  Bureau  of 
Education  and  shall  be  expended  with  the  approval  of  the 

143 


144  APPENDIX  A 

Council  of  State.  The  unexpended  balances  at  the  end  of 
each  one  of  the  aforesaid  years  shall  revert  to  the  general 
funds  of  the  Insular  Treasury. 

Sec.  2.    This  Act  shall  take  effect  on  its  approval. 
Approved,  December  6,  1918. 


APPENDIX  B 

The  following  provisions  of  the  New  Land  Law,  Act 
No.  2874,  "An  Act  To  Amend  and  Compile  the  Laws  Rela- 
tive to  Lands  of  the  Public  Domain,  and  for  Other  Purposes," 
are  quoted  for  the  information  of  teachers  who  may  wish 
to  secure  homesteads  or  who  may  wish  to  assist  persons  in 
securing  homesteads: 

Chapter  III.    Forms  of  concession  of  agricultural  land 
Sec.  11.     Public  lands  suitable  for  agricultural  purposes 
can  be  disposed  of  only  as  follows,  and  not  otherwise: 

(1)  For  homestead  settlement. 

(2)  By  sale. 

(3)  By  confirmation  of  imperfect  or  incomplete  titles: 

(a)  By  administrative  legalization  (free  patent). 
(6)  By  judicial  legalization. 

Chapter  IV,    Homesteads 

Sec.  12.  Any  citizen  of  the  Philippine  Islands  or  of  the 
United  States,  over  the  age  of  eighteen  years,  or  the  head  of 
a  family,  who  does  not  own  more  than  twenty-four  hectares 
of  land  in  said  Islands  or  has  not  had  the  benefit  of  any 
gratuitous  allotment  of  more  than  twenty-four  hectares  of 
land  since  the  occupation  of  the  Philippine  Islands  by  the 
United  States,  may  enter  a  homestead  of  not  exceeding 
twenty-four  hectares  of  agricultural  land  of  the  public 
domain. 

Sec.  13.  Upon  the  filing  of  an  application  for  a  home- 
stead, the  Director  of  Lands,  if  he  finds  that  the  application 
should  be  approved,  shall  do  so  and  authorize  the  applicant 
to  take  possession  of  the  land  upon  the  payment  of  ten 
pesos,  Philippine  currency,  as  entry  fee.  Within  six  months 
from  and  after  the  date  of  the  approval  of  the  application, 
the  applicant  shall  begin  to  work  the  homestead;  otherwise 
he  shall  lose  his  prior  right  to  the  land. 

145 


146  APPENDIX  B 

Sec.  14.  No  certificate  shall  be  given  or  patent  issued  for 
the  land  applied  for  until  the  land  has  been  improved  and 
cultivated.  The  period  within  which  the  land  shall  be 
cultivated  shall  not  be  less  than  two  nor  more  than  five 
years,  from  and  after  the  date  of  the  approval  of  the  appli- 
cation. The  applicant  shall,  within  the  said  period,  notify 
the  Director  of  Lands  as  soon  as  he  is  ready  to  acquire  the 
title.  If  at  the  date  of  such  notice  or  at  any  time  within 
the  two  years  next  following  the  expiration  of  said  period, 
the  applicant  shall  prove  to  the  satisfaction  of  the  Director 
of  Lands  by  affidavits  of  two  credible  witnesses,  that  he  has 
resided  in  the  municipality  in  which  the  land  is  located,  or 
in  a  municipality  adjacent  to  the  same,  and  has  cultivated 
the  land  continuously  since  the  approval  of  the  application, 
and  shall  make  affidavit  that  no  part  of  said  land  has  been 
alienated  or  encumbered,  and  that  he  has  complied  with  all 
the  requirements  of  this  Act,  then,  upon  the  payment  of  ten 
pesos,  he  shall  be  entitled  to  a  patent. 

Sec.  15.  At  the  option  of  the  applicant,  payment  of  the 
fees  required  in  this  chapter  may  be  made  in  annual  install- 
ments. These  payments  may  be  made  to  the  municipal 
treasurer  of  the  locality,  who,  in  turn,  shall  forward  them 
to  the  provincial  treasurer.  In  case  of  the  delinquency  of 
the  applicant,  the  Director  of  Lands  may,  sixty  days  after 
such  delinquency  has  occurred,  either  cancel  the  application 
or  grant  an  extension  of  time  not  to  exceed  one  hundred 
and  twenty  days  for  the  payment  of  the  sum  due. 

Sec.  16.  If  at  any  time  before  the  expiration  of  the 
period  allowed  by  law  for  the  making  of  final  proof,  it  shall 
be  proved  to  the  satisfaction  of  the  Director  of  Lands,  after 
due  notice  to  the  homesteader,  that  the  land  entered  is  not 
under  the  law  subject  to  homestead  entry,  or  that  the  home- 
steader has  actually  changed  his  residence,  or  voluntarily 
abandoned  the  land  for  more  than  six  months  at  any  one 
time  during  the  years  of  residence  and  occupation  herein 
required,  or  has  otherwise  failed  to  comply  with  the  require- 


SECURING  OF  HOMESTEADS  147 

ments  of  this  Act,  the  Director  of  Lands  may  cancel  the 
entry. 

Sec.  17.  Before  final  proof  shall  be  submitted  by  any 
person  claiming  to  have  complied  with  the  provisions  of 
this  chapter,  due  notice,  as  prescribed  by  the  Secretary  of 
Agriculture  and  Natural  Resources,  shall  be  given  to  the 
public  of  his  intention  to  make  such  proof,  stating  therein 
the  name  and  address  of  the  homesteader,  the  description  of 
the  land,  with  its  boundaries  and  area,  the  names  of  the 
witnesses  by  whom  it  is  expected  that  the  necessary  facts 
will  be  established,  and  the  time  and  place  at  which,  and 
the  name  of  the  officer  before  whom,  such  proof  will  be 
made. 

Sec.  18.  In  case  the  homesteader  shall  suffer  from  mental 
alienation,  or  shall  for  any  other  reason  be  incapacitated  for 
exercising  his  rights  personally,  the  person  legally  represent- 
ing him  may  offer  and  submit  the  final  proof  on  behalf  of 
such  incapacitated  person. 

Sec.  19.  Not  more  than  one  homestead  shall  be  allowed 
to  any  person;  but  if  a  homesteader  has  made  final  proof  as 
provided  in  this  chapter  and  is  occupying  and  cultivating  all 
the  land  applied  for  and  the  area  thereof  is  less  than  twenty- 
four  hectares,  he  may  apply  for  an  additional  homestead 
on  an  adjacent  tract  of  land,  provided  the  total  area  of 
both  parcels  does  not  exceed  twenty-four  hectares,  and  with 
the  understanding  that  he  shall  with  regard  to  the  new  tract 
or  additional  homestead  comply  with  the  same  conditions 
as  prescribed  by  this  Act  for  an  original  homestead  entry. 

Sec.  20.  The  cancellation  of  a  homestead  entry  not  due 
to  any  fault  of  the  applicant  shall  not  be  a  bar  to  his  apply- 
ing for  another  homestead. 

Sec.  21.  If  at  any  time  after  the  approval  of  the  appli- 
cation and  before  the  patent  is  issued,  the  applicant  shall 
prove  to  the  satisfaction  of  the  Director  of  Lands  that 
he  has  complied  with  all  the  requirements  of  the  law,  but 
cannot  continue  with  his  homestead,  through  no  fault  of 


148  APPENDIX  B 

his  own,  and  there  is  a  bona  fide  purchaser  for  the  rights  and 
improvements  of  the  appHcant  on  the  land,  and  that  the 
conveyance  is  not  made  for  the  purposes  of  speculation,  then 
the  applicant,  with  the  previous  approval  of  the  Secretary 
of  Agriculture  and  Natural  Resources,  may  transfer  his 
rights  to  the  land  and  improvements  to  any  person  legally 
qualified  to  apply  for  a  homestead,  and  immediately  after 
such  transfer,  the  purchaser  shall  file  a  homestead  application 
to  the  land  so  acquired  and  shall  succeed  the  original  home- 
steader in  his  rights  and  obligations,  beginning  with  the 
date  of  the  approval  of  said  application  of  the  purchaser. 
Any  person  who  has  so  transferred  his  rights  may  once  again 
apply  for  a  new  homestead.  Every  transfer  made  without 
the  previous  approval  of  the  Secretary  of  Agriculture  and 
Natural  Resources  shall  be  null  and  void  and  shall  result  in 
the  cancellation  of  the  entry  and  the  refusal  of  the  patent. 

Sec.  22.  Any  non-Christian  native  desiring  to  live  upon 
or  occupy  land  on  any  of  the  reservations  set  aside  for  the 
so-called  *' non-Christian  tribes"  without  applying  for  a 
homestead,  may  request  a  permit  of  occupation  for  any  tract 
of  land  of  the  public  domain  open  to  homestead  entry  under 
this  Act,  the  area  of  which  shall  not  exceed  ten  hectares. 
It  shall  be  an  essential  condition  that  the  applicant  for  the 
permit  cultivate  and  improve  the  land,  and  if  such  culti- 
vation has  not  been  begun  within  six  months  from  and 
after  the  date  on  which  the  permit  was  granted,  the  permit 
shall  ipso  facto  be  canceled.  The  permit  shall  be  for  a  term 
of  five  years.  If  at  the  expiration  of  this  term  or  at  any 
time  theretofore,  the  holder  of  the  permit  shall  apply  for  a 
homestead  under  the  provisions  of  this  chapter,  including 
the  portion  for  which  a  permit  was  granted  to  him,  he  shall 
have  the  priority;  otherwise  the  land  shall  be  again  open 
to  disposition  at  the  expiration  of  the  five  years. 

For  each  permit  the  sum  of  five  pesos  shall  be  paid,  which 
may  be  done  in  annual  installments. 


APPENDIX  C 

The  Govebnment  of  the  Philippine  Islands 

Department  of  Agriculture  and  Natural  Resources 

Bureau  of  Agriculture 

CIRCULAR  NO.  77 


SAVING  AND  INVESTING 


HOARDING  MONEY  IS  NOT  THRIFT.  THRIFT  IMPLIES 
THE  WISE  USE  OF  MONEY  BOTH  IN  SPENDING 
AND  SAVING 

The  rural  credit  movement  attempts  to  organize  coop- 
erative associations  in  each  municipaUty  which  will  develop 
into  village  banks.  There  are  (on  December  1,  1919)  410 
incorporated  associations  with  over  ?600,000  capital,  paid 
in  by  over  50,000  shareholders.  In  many  cases  shares  were 
bought  by  public  spirited  persons  who  do  not  intend  to 
borrow  but  who  wish  to  help  a  worthy  institution  in  its 
early  struggles  against  indifference,  prejudice,  and  ignorance. 
The  small  farmer  needs  money  to  carry  on  his  business.  His 
security  does  not  command  the  confidence  of  capitalists  and 
the  transactions  are  usually  for  such  small  amounts  that 
only  local  money  lenders  will  take  the  trouble  to  make 
these  small  loans,  imposing  whatever  terms  they  choose  on 
the  helpless  borrowers. 

Small  loans  have  been  made  by  rural  credit  associations 
since  their  organization  in  October  1916  but  in  every  associ- 
ation many  requests  cannot  be  met  for  lack  of  funds.  It  is 
the  policy  of  the  Government  to  keep  these  associations 
absolutely  independent  and  self  sustaining.  The  organizing 
staff  is  being  maintained  by  the  Government  in  order  to 
create  and  maintain  interest  by  explaining  the  purposes  and 
methods  of  cooperation.  While  grateful  for  the  help  given 
by  many  public  spirited  men  to  organize  and  advance  this 
new  idea  it  must  be  frankly  stated  that  rural  credit  cannot 

149 


150  APPENDIX  C 

as  yet  be  classed  as  a  popular  movement  in  the  sense  of 
being  "by  the  people  and  of  the  people."  The  cooperation 
of  educated  young  men  and  women  is  sadly  lacking.  The 
false  modesty  of  not  working  in  this  movement  until  regu- 
larly appointed  is  all  wrong.  Every  man,  woman,  and  child 
is  hereby  appointed  as  a  "committee  of  one"  to  understand 
rural  credit  and  then  to  explain  it  to  everybody  —  every- 
where, until  real  local  interest  in  their  own  progress  is 
developed  in  every  community.    This  is  real  cooperation. 

There  are  three  ways  open  for  these  associations  to  in- 
crease their  working  capital:  (1)  by  selling  more  shares, 
(2)  by  borrowing  from  capitalists  and  banks,  and  (3)  by 
receiving  deposits  from  members  and  non-members.  Every 
effort  is  being  made  to  sell  more  shares  but  the  small  farmers 
have  no  surplus  money,  in  fact  all  are  borrowers  and  the 
capital  they  have  paid  in  represents  a  sacrifice.  Borrowing 
for  agricultural  purposes  from  mercantile  banks  is  next  to 
impossible,  owing  to  existing  rules.  Capitalists  can  loan  all 
the  money  they  have  on  city  real  estate  directly  under  their 
observation.  Therefore  each  association  must  seek  to  create 
depositors  to  enlist  the  money  now  unused  and  urge  people 
to  become  thrifty  and  invest  their  savings  in  agriculture.  — 
This  is  the  way  to  solid  success. 

The  following  pages  clearly  explain  the  theory  and  practice 
of  saving  and  of  putting  the  savings  at  work  to  do  good: 

"Thrift  lies  at  the  very  foundation  of  material  success. 
It  is  the  companion  of  saving,  full  brother  of  frugality,  first 
aid  to  prudence  and  economy. 

The  nations  of  the  world  that  have  prospered  owe  their 
progress  to  thrift,  because  the  sum  of  small  savings  forms  the 
unshakable  fabric  of  national  credit. 

There  is  a  big  difference  between  saving  and  hoarding; 
when  money  is  saved  and  employed  for  a  definite  purpose, 
it  becomes  the  most  constructive  agency  of  human  progress. 

The  money  that  a  miser  puts  away  at  the  bottom  of  a 
trunk  is  inert  wealth,  and  accomplishes  nothing  save  the 


SAVING  AND  INVESTING  151 

selfish  gratification  of  its  owner.  To  be  useful,  and  to  perform 
the  best  function  of  saving,  money  must  work  so  that  it 
will  make  more  money. 

The  moment  you  put  your  funds,  no  matter  how  small, 
out  to  labor  in  safety,  you  become  an  investor,  because  your 
capital  is  earning  something. 

The  great  fortunes  of  the  United  States  originally  grew 
out  of  small  accumulation  of  savings.  It  was  these  that 
provided  the  nucleus  which  was  available  at  the  supreme 
moment  when  opportunity  knocked  at  the  door. 

In  addition  to  thrift,  the  average  man  and  woman  must 
also  be  taught  the  value  of  money,  which  is  just  as  important 
as  the  saving  sense.  If  people  realized  the  value  of  money, 
they  would  be  much  less  extravagant." 

"An  old  philosopher  remarked  ruefully  after  he  wasted 
his  small  fortune:  'You  never  know  the  value  of  money 
until  you  ain't  got  any  more.' 

At  a  time  of  soaring  prices,  the  average  man  naturally 
regards  the  question  of  saving  as  somewhat  humorous;  but 
as  a  matter  of  fact,  every  man  and  woman  who  earns  any 
sort  of  wage  can  save,  if  he  or  she  only  has  the  desire  to  do  so. 

Spend  less  than  you  earn;  buy  for  cash;  and  keep  some 
account  of  what  you  earn  and  spend.  Unfurl  these  maxims 
from  the  very  mast  head  of  your  life  and  you  are  not  likely 
to  know  want  or  care.  More  than  this,  they  mean,  when 
properly  followed,  a  competency  of  some  kind  for  old  age, 
or  at  that  time  of  life  when  disease,  accident  or  other  mis- 
fortune removes  the  means  of  earning  a  livelihood. 

It  is  not  the  amount  of  money  that  you  save,  but  the 
fact  that  you  have  begun  to  save,  that  invests  the  whole 
act  with  a  certain  moral  influence,  which  properly  encouraged 
becomes  stronger  and  stronger  all  the  time. 

The  way  to  save  lies  through  order.  Apply  the  same 
intelligent  effort  to  your  money  that  you  expend  on  the 
time,  energy  or  material  with  which  you  work. 

The  only  way  to  save  successfully  is  to  keep  constantly 


152  APPENDIX  C 

at  it.  It  is  very  much  like  exercise.  A  man  who  exercises 
violently  one  day  and  then  remains  idle  two  weeks  is  at  a 
disadvantage,  rather  than  at  an  advantage,  when  he  starts 
to  exercise  again.  You  can  very  easily  get  the  saving  habit. 
Instinct  is  strong  in  the  human  race.  All  it  needs  is  proper 
encouragement. 

Nothing  so  helps  to  Gx  the  habit  of  thrift  and  savmg  as 
to  have  a  definite  rule  set  down  for  yourself.  This  is  where 
the  Postal  Savings  Bank  and  Rural  Credit  Deposits  come  in. 
Many  people  have  found  it  a  good  rule  to  ask  themselves 
when  they  receive  their  pay,  'How  much  of  this  can  I  save?' 
in  all  likelihood  some  part  of  it  can  be  spared  to  swell  the 
savings  account. 

It  is  a  little  understood  fact  that  money  really  works. 
Many  people  never  become  prosperous,  simply  because  they 
do  not  understand  this  important  fact." 

A  peso  is  like  the  proverbial  acorn.  If  you  plant  it  right 
and  leave  it  alone,  the  results  are  sometimes  amazing. 
When  Benjamin  Franklin  said  that  "  Money  can  beget  money 
and  its  offspring  can  beget  more,"  he  was  merely  telling 
what  compound  interest  does. 

It  is  possible  for  every  one  to  deposit  some  money  with  rural 
credit  associations,  by  adopting  a  system  of  setting  apart 
that  portion  of  his  or  her  income  which  can  be  spared,  and 
by  considering  this  as  money  saved  against  the  day  of  need. 

The  following  quotations  will  help  you  to  a  right  decision: 

The  way  to  material  success  in  life  is  simple.  The  man 
who  sets  a  straight  course  and  refuses  to  deviate  from  it; 
who  lives  on  less  than  he  makes,  is  bound  to  build  up  a 
comfortable  fortune  to  retire  on  when  his  business  days  are 
over.  —  )S.  W.  Straus. 

If  you  want  to  succeed,  save.  This  is  true  not  so  much 
because  of  the  value  of  the  money  which  the  young  man  who 
saves  accumulates,  but  because  of  the  infinitely  greater 
value  the  system  and  organization  which  the  practice  of 
saving  introduces  into  his  life.     This  result  of  the  saving 


SAVING  AND  INVESTING  153 

habit  is  not  generally  nor  properly  appreciated.  —  Marshall 
Field. 

The  saving  of  money  usually  means  the  saving  of  a  man. 
It  means  cutting  off  indulgences  or  avoiding  vicious  habits. 
The  little  difference  between  what  you  earn  and  what  you 
spend  is  power.  It  often  measures  the  distance  between 
success  and  failure.  —  0.  S.  Harden. 

Thrift  requires  that  money  should  be  used,  not  abused — 
that  it  should  be  honestly  earned  and  economically  em- 
ployed. —  Samuel  Smiles. 

No  boy  ever  became  great  as  a  man  who  did  not  in  his 
youth  learn  to  save  money.  —  John  Wanamaher. 

If  the  young  man  ever  expects  to  succeed  in  business  he 
must  be  economical.  No  matter  how  small  the  sum  the 
boy  or  young  man  is  receiving,  he  should  always  save  a 
portion  of  his  income.  —  Henry  C.  Lytton. 

I  know  of  no  greater  independence  than  this  thing  of 
having  a  little  lump  sum  of  money  put  away,  be  it  ever  so 
small  —  a  sum  that  is  kept  in  reserve  and  only  in  extreme 
instances  drawn  upon.  —  Daniel  Barnes. 

Economy  is  near  to  the  keystone  of  character  and  success. 
A  boy  that  is  taught  to  save  his  money  will  rarely  be  a  bad 
man  or  a  failure;  the  man  who  saves  will  rise  in  his  trade 
or  profession  steadily;  this  is  inevitable.  —  William  E. 
Gladstone. 

The  man  who  lives  within  his  means  and  regularly  and 
systematically  lays  aside  part  of  his  earnings,  and  puts  this 
surplus  where  it  will  work  for  him  as  unceasingly  and  as 
faithfully  as  he  worked  once  for  it,  has  acquired  a  habit  of 
no  small  import  in  the  building  of  his  character  and  the 
carving  of  his  future.  —  W.  H.  Kniffen. 

You  think  your  "little"  is  not  worth  saving;  but  I  have 
noticed  that  the  cigar  man  and  the  theater  man  and  the 
soda  water  man  have  such  a  high  opinion  of  your  "little" 
that  each  is  glad  to  get  his  hands  on  just  a  small  fraction 
of  it,  in  order  that  he  may  carry  it  to  his  bank  and  have  it 


154  APPENDIX  C 

placed  to  his  account.  I  suppose  it  is  all  the  same  to  the 
bank  —  your  little  is  going  there  anyway  —  but,  say !  if  it  is 
going  there  anyway,  would  it  not  be  better  to  carry  it  there 
yourself,  and  have  it  placed  to  your  credit?  —  Edward  L. 
Pell 

THRIFT 

Without  me  no  man  has  ever  achieved  success,  nor  has 
any  nation  ever  become  great. 

I  have  been  the  bedrock  of  every  successful  career,  and 
the  cornerstone  of  every  fortune. 

All  the  world  knows  me  and  most  of  the  world  heeds  my 
warning. 

The  poor  may  have  me  as  well  as  the  rich. 

My  power  is  limitless,  my  application  boundless. 

He  who  possesses  me  has  contentment  in  the  present  and 
surety  for  the  future. 

I  am  of  greater  value  than  pearls,  rubies  and  diamonds. 

Once  you  have  me,  no  man  can  take  me  away. 

I  lift  my  possessor  to  higher  planes  of  living,  increase  his 
earning  power,  and  bring  to  realization  the  hopes  of  his  life. 

I  make  a  man  well  dressed,  well  housed,  and  well  fed. 

I  insure  absolutely  against  the  rainy  day. 

I  drive  want  and  doubt  and  care  away. 

I  guarantee  those  who  possess  me  prosperity  and  success. 

I  have  exalted  those  of  low  degree  and  those  of  high  degree 
have  found  me  a  helpful  friend. 

To  obtain  me  you  need  put  out  no  capital  but  personal 
effort,  and  on  all  you  invest  in  me  I  guarantee  dividends 
that  last  through  life  and  after. 

I  am  as  free  as  air. 

I  am  yours  if  you  will  take  me. 

I  am  ihrijU 


SAVING  AND  INVESTING  155 

DETAILS  OF  DEPOSITING  YOUR  SAVINGS 

With  the  object  of  explaining  in  outHne  how  the  small  (or 
large)  savings,  which  you  are  urged  to  invest,  will  be  put  to 
work  in  the  410  Rural  Credit  Associations  existing  on  De- 
cember 1, 1919,  the  following  details  will  be  read  with  interest 
and  profit  by  every  one  who  is  ambitious  to  advance  and  also 
to  see  agriculture  prosper.  Money  must  be  made  available 
on  reasonable  terms  to  the  small  farmers  who  must  have 
capital  with  which  to  grow  the  food  which  stands  between 
you  and  hunger.  They  ask  for  no  gifts  or  charity.  They 
merely  ask  for  access  to  loans  on  conditions  more  reasonable 
than  the  heartless  usurers  exact. 

The  interest  paid  by  Rural  Credit  Associations  on  deposits 
is  on  a  new  plan:  For  every  F3.75  deposited  T5  will  be  paid 
in  five  years;  for  every  P7.50  deposited  PlO  will  be  paid;  for 
P15  they  will  pay  P20;  for  F37.50  they  will  pay  F50;  and 
for  P75  they  will  pay  PlOO  in  five  years.  Only  these  five 
denominations  are  in  use;  the  reason  is  to  avoid  the  cost  of 
printing  more  than  these  five  Cash  Deposit  Certificates. 

The  operation  is  very  interesting  as  will  be  seen  by  the 
following: 

FOR  THE   DEPOSITOR 

P7.50  deposited  in  1919. 
.45  interest  at  6  per  cent. 

7.95  capital  in  1920. 
.48  interest. 


8.43  capital  in  1921 
.51  interest. 


8.94  capital  in  1922. 
.54  interest. 

9.48  capital  in  1923. 
.56  interest. 

10.04  total  capital  and  interest  in  five  years. 


156  APPENDIX  C 

FOR  THE  ASSOCIATION 

^7.50  received  in  1919. 

.75  interest  collected  at  10  per  cent. 


8.25  capital  in  1920. 
.82  interest  collected. 


9.07  capital  in  1921. 
.90  interest  collected. 


9.97  capital  in  1922. 
.99  interest  collected. 


10.96  capital  in  1923. 
1.09  interest  collected. 


12.05  capital  and  interest  gained  in  five  years. 

These  deposits  can  be  withdrawn  at  any  time  on  thirty 
days*  notice  at  a  surrender  value  which  includes  interest  for 
the  time  the  money  was  on  deposit.  The  transfer  of  the 
holder  to  another  town  will  make  no  difference  as  the  Central 
Office  is  in  control  of  all  Deposit  Certificates. 

The  advantages  are  very  justly  divided.  The  small  farmers 
get  the  use  of  the  money,  the  depositor  gets  F2.50  plus  his 
original  P7.50,  and  the  association  gains  F2  with  which  to 
meet  any  unexpected  losses  of  money  remaining  idle  between 
loans. 

Liberty  Bonds.  —  When  Uncle  Sam  needed  money  for  the 
enormous  daily  expenses  occasioned  by  the  World  War  he 
borrowed  from  his  friends  and  issued  "promissory  notes" 
known  as  Liberty  Bonds.  Now  that  this  war  is  over  it  is 
suggested  that  these  same  Liberty  Bonds  be  put  to  work  a 
second  time  to  furnish  capital  for  our  small  farmers.  This 
does  not  appear  so  dramatic  as  the  stirring  calls  of  war  but 


SAVING  AND  INVESTING  157 

it  is  just  as  heroic  and  patriotic  because  it  helps  supply  our 
country  with  food  by  making  agricultiu*e  more  prosperous. 
This  capital  will  furnish  work  animals,  seeds,  and  implements. 

You  are  therefore  invited  to  send  your  Liberty  Bond  by 
registered  mail  to  the  Director  of  Agriculture,  Manila;  he  will 
sell  it  to  the  National  Bank  and  send  the  total  proceeds  to 
the  Rural  Credit  Association  you  designate.  If  you  have 
no  special  association  selected  he  will  select  a  needy  associ- 
ation. You  will  receive  a  Liberty  Bond  Deposit  Certificate 
for  P130,  payable  five  years  from  date. 

In  other  words,  your  Liberty  Bond  has  twenty  years  to 
run  and  earns  4}  per  cent  interest.  By  this  plan  you  will 
get  P130  for  it  in  five  years.  The  10  per  cent  charged  as 
interest  to  the  members  of  associations  will  in  these  five 
years  pay  the  F30  interest,  and  will  also  pay  the  discount 
for  cashing  the  bond  at  the  bank  and  will  still  leave  a  profit 
to  the  association. 

These  details  are  given  so  that  you  may  be  able  to  explain 
the  subject  clearly  to  those  you  associate  with  by  showing 
the  sound  business  principles  that  make  this  plan  safe. 

It  is  well  for  every  one  to  lay  by  some  part  of  his  income 
against  the  proverbial  **rainy  day,"  old  age,  etc.  If  these 
savings  are  wisely  invested  they  will  also  earn  you  more 
money.  Our  farmers  are  suffering  much  because  of  lack  of 
the  small  amounts  necessary  to  carry  on  their  work  and  these 
Rural  Credit  Associations  are  providing  it  on  the  lines  of 
self-help  and  self-development,  and  will  thus  inevitably  grow 
in  importance  if  they  have  a  larger  capital. 


158 


APPENDIX  C 


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SAVING  AND  INVESTING 


159 


160  APPENDIX  C 


CENTRAL  BANKS 


There  were  410  incorporated  Rural  Credit  Associations  in 
the  Philippines  on  December  1,  1919,  with  a  total  capital  of 
approximately  ^^600,000,  paid  in  by  over  50,000  members. 
While  this  is  very  encouraging  and  shows  remarkable  progress 
since  the  first  association  was  organized  in  October  1916,  the 
fact  remains  that  every  association  has  more  applicants  for 
loans  from  members  than  can  be  met  with  its  present  funds. 

The  fact  is  that  nearly  all  members  joined  in  order  to 
borrow  —  not  to  invest  capital  because  every  peso  they  have 
has  other  calls  on  it  than  investing  in  shares,  except  to  help 
estabhsh  a  village  bank  from  which  to  borrow  the  small 
capital  needed.  It  is  true  that  in  many  instances  public 
spirited  men  and  women  have  bought  some  shares  simply 
to  help  a  good  movement  to  get  on  its  feet.  They  do  not 
expect  to  become  borrowers. 

Really,  our  very  success  has  become  our  embarrassment. 
We  increase  our  members,  each  with  a  few  pesos  invested 
in  shares.  We  morally  obligate  ourselves  to  loan  a  reason- 
able sum  to  these  laborious  farmers  on  their  approved 
security.  Our  problem  is  to  create  the  amount  of  cash  the 
farmer  must  have  above  the  share  investment  he  has  made. 

In  over  thirty  nations  this  same  problem  was  encountered 
and  solved  by  organizing  Central  Banks  whose  only  function 
is  to  loan  money  to  associations  which  have  more  applications 
for  loans  than  they  can  supply.  In  practice  their  operation 
resembles  that  of  a  wholesale  dealer  who  supplies  a  hundred 
or  more  small  stores  with  goods  to  be  retailed  to  the  numer- 
ous customers  of  each  store.  The  small  dealer  supplies 
sufficient  guarantee  to  the  wholesale  dealer  and  then  exacts 
sufficient  security  from  the  customer  he  serves  and  whose 
character  and  standing  he  knows.  Central  Banks  are 
established  in  centers  where  from  20  to  100  Rural  Credit 
Associations  affihate,  each  buying  at  least  one  share  of 


SAVING  AND  INVESTING  161 

!P100.  The  F20,000,  or  more,  cash  capital  with  which  the 
Central  Bank  begins,  is  subscribed  by  public-spirited  persons 
in  that  province  who  are  willing  to  patriotically  invest  their 
capital  at  about  8  per  cent  per  annum  in  a  useful  institution. 
These  shareholders  elect  their  board  of  managers,  who 
appoint  inspectors.  These  inspectors  visit  the  associations 
and  carefully  investigate  the  guarantee  any  association  offers 
as  security  for  a  P5,000  or  F10,000  loan.  If  satisfactory, 
the  association  has  a  credit  on  the  books  of  the  Central 
Bank  for  a  certain  sum,  against  which  it  can  draw  as  funds 
are  needed  above  what  the  association  has  on  hand. 

Central  Banks  simply  accept  the  safe  guarantee  of  an 
association,  which  has  but  a  small  sum  in  cash,  and  loans 
more  working  capital  on  the  united  security  of  the  members. 
This  is  a  safe  and  reasonable  plan,  with  which  to  build  up 
solid  financial  institutions.  The  small  farmer  is  taught  his 
responsibility  to  use  the  borrowed  money  wisely  and  repay 
it  promptly  to  his  association.  The  association  is  taught 
how  to  secure  more  working  capital  on  such  approved 
security  as  its  members  have,  and  that  its  standing  and 
credit  for  future  loans  will  depend  on  the  promptness  and 
cheerfuhiess  with  which  former  obligations  with  the  Central 
Bank  have  been  met. 

The  mistake  is  sometimes  made  by  well-intentioned 
persons  of  expecting  Rural  Credit  Associations  to  regenerate 
agriculture  and  change  human  nature.  These  associations 
do  not  supply  activity  to  the  mdolent  nor  financial  aid  to 
gamblers.  They  do  not  rectify  the  stupidity  of  the  wrong 
use  of  money.  They  exist  to  unite  worthy,  industrious 
farmers  who  by  intelligent  cooperation  can  unitedly  secure 
working  capital  on  their  combined  security.  They  form  a 
brotherhood.  They  advise  and  help  one  another  to  better 
their  condition  and  in  the  same  sense  that  they  start  with  a 
small  capital  which  is  increased  as  the  plan  is  better  under- 
stood, so  morally  they  grow  as  the  sense  of  personal  obli- 
gation, community  spirit,  and  national  progress  is  developed. 


162  APPENDIX  C 

Rural  Credit  Associations  are  not  intended  to  do  a  general 
banking  business  nor  to  make  loans  for  large  sums  for 
permanent  improvements  or  for  a  long  term  of  years.  It 
is  enough  that  they  strive  to  furnish  the  small  capital  needed 
by  their  humble  members.  The  large  land  owners  and 
their  large  requests  legitimately  belong  to  the  National 
Bank  and  other  capitalists  with  large  funds  to  invest.  In 
fact  when  the  small  farmer  graduates  into  a  higher  financial 
grade  he  will  avail  himself  of  these  higher  financial  helps. 

It  would  be  a  calamity  to  mix  the  large  loans  and  small 
loans  in  one  institution.  The  small  man  would  certainly  be 
neglected  by  any  institution  foisted  on  him  by  outsiders. 
Far  better  let  him  have  the  "apprenticeship  period"  of 
struggle  for  funds  in  his  own  association,  managed  by  his 
own  class.  They  will  thus  learn  the  value  of  money,  how 
diflScult  it  is  to  get,  and  will  appreciate  it  more  when  their 
own  Central  Banks  make  it  available. 

Emerson  said,  *' Money  is  of  no  value;  it  cannot  spend 
itself.  All  depends  on  the  skill  of  the  spender."  If  this  is 
true,  training  people  how  to  spend  money  is  just  as  im- 
portant, or  even  more  so,  than  money  itself. 


SAVING  AND  INVESTING  163 

ESSENTIALS  OF  COOPERATION 
COOPERATION  CAN  ONLY  FLOURISH  IN  AN  ATMOS- 
PHERE OF  SELF-RELUNCE;  OF  PRIVATE  INITIATIVE  AND 
OF  PERSONAL  ENDEAVOR.  THE  MOTIVE  POWER  MUST 
BE  PRODUCED  FROM  WITHIN  AND  NO  EXTERNAL  MACHIN- 
ERY CAN  REPLACE  IT.  THESE  ELEMENTS  MUST  BE  PRE- 
SERVED INTACT.  ON  THE  OTHER  HAND,  CREDIT  IS  A  VITAL 
MATTER  AND  THE  FAILURE  OF  ANY  COOPERATIVE  SOCIETY, 
WHETHER  FROM  SLACKNESS,  IGNORANCE,  IMPRUDENCE, 
OR  DISHONESTY  AMONG  ANY  OF  ITS  MEMBERS,  CANNOT 
BE  REGARDED  AS  AN  ISOLATED  MISFORTUNE.  IT  MUST 
PROVE  DETRIMENTAL  IN  A  GREATER  OR  LESS  DEGREE 
TO  THE  INTERESTS  OF  ALL  OTHER  SOCIETIES  WHICH  HAVE 
ANY  POINT  OF  CONTACT  WITH  THE  DEFAULTER  AND  TO 
THE  GOOD  REPUTE  OF  THE  CAUSE  OF  COOPERATION  ITSELF. 
NOW,  EVEN  HONESTY  AND  SOLVENCY  ARE  NOT  IN  THEM- 
SELVES SUFFICIENT  TO  ESTABLISH  CREDIT.  THERE  MUST 
BE  A  TANGIBLE  AND  CONCURRENT  GUARANTEE  AND  THIS 
MUST  BE  PROVIDED  IN  SOME  FORM  OR  OTHER  BY  A  SYSTEM 
OF  SUPERVISION  AND  AUDIT  THROUGH  A  CENTRAL  BANK 
AGENCY  RECOGNIZED  AT  ONCE  AS  TRUSTWORTHY  AND 
RESPONSIBLE  IN  ITSELF  AND  HAVING  AN  ORGANIC  RELA- 
TION WITH  THE  COOPERATIVE  IDEA. 

LORD  WILLINGDON,  BOMBAY,  INDIA 


APPENDIX  D 

AGRICULTURAL  EDUCATION  BILL 
FIFTH  PHILIPPINE  LEGISLATURE) 

First  Session  ) 

HOUSE  OF  REPRESENTATIVES 
Introduced  by 

An  Act  to  Provide  for  the  Promotion  of  Agricultural 
Education;  to  Provide  for  Cooperation  with  the 
Provinces  in  the  Promotion  of  such  Education  in 
Agriculture  and  Home  Economics;  and  to  Ap- 
propriate Money  and  Regulate  its  Expenditure 

Be  it  enacted  by  the  House  of  Representatives  and  the 
Senate  of  the  Phihppine  Legislature  assembled  and  by 
the  authority  of  the  same: 

Sec.  1.  There  is  hereby  annually  appropriated,  out  of 
any  money  in  the  Treasury  not  otherwise  appropriated, 
the  sums  provided  in  sections  2,  3,  and  4  of  this  Act,  to  be 
expended  as  hereinafter  provided  by  the  Director  of  Edu- 
cation subject  to  the  approval  of  the  Secretary  of  Pubhc 
Instruction,  for  the  purpose  of  cooperating  with  the  provinces 
in  the  establishment,  in  the  equipment,  and  in  the  operation 
of  agricultural  schools  and  for  the  preparation  within  the 
Philippine  Islands  of  supervisors  of  agricultural  projects 
and  of  teachers  for  agricultural  schools. 

Sec.  2.  That  for  the  purpose  of  cooperating  with  the 
provinces  in  the  establishment  and  in  the  development  of 
agricultural  schools  subject  to  the  provisions  of  this  Act, 
there  shall  be  available  on  the  first  day  of  January  for  the 
fiscal  year  of  nineteen  hundred  and  twenty  the  sum  of  two 
hundred  fifty  thousand  pesos  (F250,000),  and  an  equal 
amoimt  annually  thereafter  for  each  of  the  three  succeeding 
years:  Provided,  That  the  allotment  of  funds  to  any  province 

164 


AGRICULTURAL  EDUCATION  BILL  165 

shall  be  fifty  thousand  pesos  (P50,000)  for  each  agricultural 
school  to  be  established  or  operated  under  the  provisions  of 
this  Act. 

Sec.  3.  For  the  purpose  of  cooperating  with  the  provinces 
in  equipping  and  in  operating  agricultural  schools,  there  shall 
be  available  for  the  use  of  the  provinces  for  the  fiscal  year 
ending  December  thirty-first,  nineteen  hundred  and  twenty, 
the  sum  of  two  hundred  thousand  pesos  (F200,000.00) ; 
for  the  fiscal  year  ending  December  thirty-first,  nineteen 
hundred  twenty-one,  the  sum  of  three  hundred  thousand 
pesos  (F300,000);  for  the  fiscal  year  ending  December 
thirty-first,  nineteen  hundred  and  twenty-two,  and  annually 
thereafter,  the  sum  of  at  least  four  hundred  thousand  pesos 
(P400,000).  Said  sums  shall  be  available  for  expenditure 
on  the  first  day  of  January  of  each  year  and  shall  be  allotted 
annually  to  the  provinces  in  proportion  to  the  provincial 
funds  provided  for  the  agricultural  schools  receiving  aid 
from  this  Act,  allotting  one  peso  for  each  peso  of  provincial 
money  provided  for  the  fiscal  year  for  which  the  allotment 
is  made:  Provided,  that  the  allotment  of  funds  to  any 
province  shall  be  not  less  than  five  thousand  pesos  (P5000) 
nor  greater  than  fifteen  thousand  pesos  (T15,000)  for  any 
fiscal  year  for  each  agricultural  school  established,  equipped, 
or  operated  under  the  provisions  of  this  Act,  And,  provided, 
further.  That  the  funds  thus  appropriated  and  allotted 
shall  accrue  to  a  special  provincial  fund  in  each  province 
to  be  known  as  the  "  Provincial  School  Fund,"  from  which 
disbursements  shall  be  made  upon  vouchers  duly  approved 
by  the  division  superintendent  of  schools  or  his  representative. 

Sec.  4.  For  the  purpose  of  training  within  the  Philip- 
pine Islands  supervisors  of  agricultural  projects  and  teachers 
of  agricultural  schools  provided  for  by  the  provisions  of 
this  Act,  there  is  hereby  appropriated  for  the  fiscal  year 
ending  December  thirty-first,  nineteen  hundred  and  twenty, 
and  annually  thereafter,  the  sum  of  one  hundred  thousand 


166  APPENDIX  D 

pesos  (PI 00,000)  to  establish  scholarships.  These  scholar- 
ships shall  be  apportioned  by  the  Director  of  Education, 
subject  to  the  approval  of  the  Secretary  of  Public  Instruc- 
tion, and  appointments  to  scholarships  shall  be  made  by 
him  or  his  representatives  in  a  manner  best  suited  to  the 
promotion  of  the  purposes  of  this  Act.  Each  recipient  of  a 
scholarship  shall  be  entitled  to  reimbursement  of  traveling 
expenses  from  place  of  residence  to  place  where  he  is  to 
receive  training  to  his  respective  station  on  completion  of 
the  course  specified  and  while  pursuing  the  course  of  in- 
struction shall  be  entitled  to  lodging  and  subsistence.  All 
such  expenditures  shall  be  payable  from  the  sum  thus 
appropriated. 

Sec.  5.  Each  scholarship  appointee  shall  sign  an  agree- 
ment to  return,  upon  the  completion  of  the  prescribed 
course  of  instruction,  to  his  own  province  or  to  such  other 
province  as  may  be  decided  upon  by  the  Director  of  Edu- 
cation and  to  serve  for  a  period  of  time  equal  to  that  en- 
joyed by  him  in  study  under  the  privileges  of  this  Act. 

Sec.  6.  That  in  order  to  receive  the  benefits  of  the  ap- 
propriations herein  provided,  the  provincial  board  of  any 
province  shall  guarantee  to  include  annually  in  the  provincial 
budget  an  appropriation  from  provincial  funds  for  each 
school  established  a  sum  equal  to  or  greater  than  the  mini- 
mum amount  provided  for  in  section  S  of  this  Act,  and  shall 
secure  for  the  school  a  suitable  tract  of  land  acceptable  to 
the  Director  of  Education  and  shall  agree  to  meet  such  other 
requirements  as  may  be  specified  by  the  Director  of  Edu- 
cation subject  to  the  approval  of  the  Secretary  of  Public 
Instruction. 

Sec.  7.  Any  province  accepting  the  benefits  of  either 
or  both  of  the  respective  funds  herein  appropriated  shall 
not  be  deprived  for  any  year  of  the  regular  annual  assistance 
as  long  as  the  conditions  prescribed  in  this  Act  are  fully 
met  by  the  province:  Provided,  That  the  Secretary  of 
Public  Instruction  may  refuse  to  release  the  aid  allotted  if 


AGRICULTURAL  EDUCATION  BILL  167 

it  is  ascertained  that  the  province  is  not  using  or  preparing 
to  use,  the  money  in  accordance  with  the  provisions  of  this 
Act. 

Sec.  8.  Schools  receiving  the  benefits  of  this  Act  shall 
be  administered  and  conducted  as  a  part  of  the  pubUc 
school  system  in  conformity  with  the  School  Law. 

This  Act  shall  take  effect  on  its  passage. 

Explanatory  Statement 

There  are  many  reasons  why  the  proposed  law  is  needed. 
Among  these  is  the  urgent  necessity  for  providing  practical 
training  in  agriculture  and  home  economics  for  farm  boys 
and  girls  during  the  period  of  their  lives  when  the  principal 
ideals  of  life  are  being  formed.  The  proposed  law  provides 
for  ample  instruction  in  agriculture  in  all  grades,  making  it 
possible  for  boys  to  be  educated  under  conditions  which 
will  create  a  knowledge  of  and  respect  for  practical  farm 
work.  Not  only  will  the  boys  know  farm  work,  but  they 
will  finish  the  public  schools  with  a  desire  to  remain  on  the 
farms  and  actually  engage  in  farm  activities.  The  future  of 
other  agricultural  agencies  is  also  assured  because  schools 
operated  under  the  provisions  of  this  law  will  in  a  few  years 
be  graduating  each  year  a  thousand  or  more  intelligent 
farmers.  These  graduates  will  be  equipped  either  to  return 
to  the  farms,  thereby  providing  intelligent  men  to  become 
community  leaders  and  to  direct  activities  for  the  general 
welfare  of  the  agricultural  classes,  or  to  attend  the  College 
of  Agriculture,  thereby  assuring  that  institution  an  ample 
number  of  students  well  fitted  to  proceed  with  the  study  of 
the  scientific  phases  of  agriculture. 

This  is  constructive  legislation,  providing  funds  not  only 
for  establishing  agricultural  schools,  but  for  developing 
these  schools  from  year  to  year.  It  makes  possible  a  nation- 
wide program  of  agricultural  education,  bridging  over  the 
gap  between  the  public  schools  and  the  College  of  Agri- 


168  APPENDIX  D 

culture.  It  makes  possible  the  turning  out  each  year  of 
several  hundred  educated  farmers  who  will  remain  on  the 
farms  to  cultivate  the  land. 

The  proposed  bill  combines  the  commendable  idea  of  re- 
leasing funds  annually  for  improvements  and  the  assurance 
of  future  development,  as  is  exemplified  in  the  Smith- 
Hughes  Bill,  now  conceded  to  be  one  of  the  most  progressive 
pieces  of  legislation  ever  enacted  for  agricultural  and  in- 
dustrial education  in  the  United  States.  A  continuing  ap- 
propriation of  this  kind  makes  it  possible  to  formulate  a 
program  capable  of  relieving  the  present  critical  situation, 
which  will  reoccur  from  time  to  time  as  long  as  effective 
remedial  action  is  not  taken. 

Close  cooperation  between  Insular  and  provincial  au- 
thorities is  provided,  which  strengthens  the  autonomy  of 
the  provinces  and  arouses  the  maximum  local  interest  which 
is  so  essential  to  the  success  of  agricultural  undertakings. 

This  bill  aims  to  extend  the  garden  work  of  the  schools 
by  providing  facili  ties  for  practical  farm  and  home  economic 
instruction  for  the  maximum  number  of  students  as  rapidly 
as  it  is  possible  to  train  the  needed  personnel.  It  is  estimated 
that  forty  provinces  will  take  advantage  of  the  provisions 
of  this  Act  within  three  years  after  its  passage.  Adequate 
facilities  will  then  be  pro  vided  to  give  a  practical  agricultural 
education  to  a  large  percentage  of  public  school  boys  and 
girls.  The  definite  future  support  outlined  is  the  most 
important  feature  of  the  legislation  sought.  It  is  an  effective 
solution  of  agricultural  education  problems. 

Funds  are  made  available  for  developing  an  efficient 
Filipino  personnel  for  the  agricultural  school  and  for  super- 
vising agricultural  projects  under  the  Secretary  of  Agri- 
culture and  Natural  Resources.  It  is  estimated  that  ample 
provisions  are  made  for  sufficient  scholarships  to  permit  of 
each  year  having  under  training  some  40  persons  for  super- 
vising agricultural  projects   of   the   Department  of  Agri- 


AGRICULTURAL  EDUCATION  BILL  169 

culture  and  Natural  Resources  in  addition  to  those  for  teach- 
ing positions  in  the  agricultural  schools.  This  measure 
assures  some  provisions  being  made  for  the  education  of  the 
adult  farmer,  which  is  an  important  factor  in  any  complete 
program  of  agricultural  education. 

Making  effective  the  various  provisions  of  this  Bill  will 
call  for  the  following  Insular  expenditures  for  agricultural 
education : 

1920  —  P550,000;  1921  —  P650,000;  1922  —  ?750,000; 
1923  — P750,000;  1924  —  F500,000;  1925  and  annually 
thereafter  at  least  P500,000. 

The  allotment  of  these  sums  as  specified  in  the  provisions 
of  this  Bill  will  make  it  obligatory  for  the  provinces  to  make 
available  for  the  same  purposes  the  following  sums: 

1920  —  F200,000;  1921  —  P300,000;  1922  —  P400,000; 
1923  — F400,000;  1924  —  ^400,000;  1925  and  annually 
thereafter  at  least  F400,000. 

Note.  This  rule  bill  was  first  introduced  by  the  chairman  of  the 
Committee  on  Public  Instruction  in  the  Lower  House  in  the  regular 
session  of  the  fourth  Philippine  Legislature.  It  was  re-introduced 
in  the  first  session  of  the  fifth  Philippine  Legislature.  It  was  also 
a  subject  included  in  the  Governor-General's  message  to  the  special 
session  immediately  following  the  close  of  the  regular  session  of 
the  fifth  Philippine  Legislature.     . 


CIRCULAR 

No.  43,  s.  1918 


APPENDIX  E 
BUREAU  OF  EDUCATION 

Manila,  August  3,  1918 

■■} 

BARRIO  SCHOOL  SANITATION 

To  Division  Superintendents : 

1.  All  instruction  in  hygiene  and  sanitation,  direct  and 
indirect,  to  be  effective,  must  result  in  improved  physical 
efficiency  and  better  sanitary  Hving.  To  barrio  schools  is 
given  great  opportunity  for  community  uplift.  Especially 
is  this  true  along  sanitary  lines.  Since  it  is  the  belief  that 
barrio  schools  and  barrio  teachers  can  best  render  effective 
service  in  practical  sanitation  by  concentration  upon  a  few 
lines,  it  is  desired  that  special  attention  be  given  this  year 
to  these  two : 

Providing  barrio  schools  with  boiled  drinking 
water  in  clean,  well-covered  jars  or  vessels,  prefer- 
ably with  faucets. 

Providing  each  barrio  school  with  two  fairly 
substantial  outhouses,  one  for  boys  and  one  for 
girls. 

2.  Since  all  barrios  are  not  yet  provided  with  artesian 
wells  from  which  pure  drinking  water  can  be  secured,  it  is 
important  to  teach  the  necessity  of  boiling  all  drinking 
water.  It  is  believed  that,  if  schools  are  provided  with 
boiled  drinking  water  and  the  teachers  and  pupils  habitually 
drink  such  water,  it  will  not  be  long  before  boiled  water  for 
drinking  purposes  will  be  used  in  the  homes  in  barrio  com- 
munities. Attention  should,  of  course,  be  given  to  cleanli- 
ness and  proper  handling  of  cups  used. 

3.  With  respect  to  outhouses,  attention  is  invited  to 
blueprints  which  the  Bureau  of  Education  sent  out  a  few 

170 


BARRIO  SCHOOL  SANITATION  171 

years  ago,  and  to  the  Philippine  Crafismariy  Vol.  IV,  page 
239,  which  gives  sketches  of  model  sanitary  outhouses  for 
barrio  schools. 

4.  In  connection  with  the  annual  report  of  division 
superintendents,  comment  should  be  made  relative  to  progress 
along  the  line  of  providing  barrio  schools  with  boiled  drink- 
ing water  and  sanitary  outhouses.  It  is  hoped  that,  by  the 
end  of  this  year,  all  barrio  schools  will  be  provided  with 
boiled  drinking  water  in  proper  vessels,  and  all  barrio  schools 
having  permanently  owned  sites  will  be  provided  with  two 
fairly  substantial  outhouses  properly  kept  clean  and  sanitary. 

Camilo  Osias, 
Acting  Director  of  Education 


IKDEX 


Acceleration,  problem  of,  110-111. 

Adult  schools,  138. 

^Esthetic  training,  34. 

Agricultural  clubs,  20,  131-132. 

Agricultural  Education  Bill,  164- 
170. 

Agriculture,  as  a  universal  occu- 
pation, 6;  teaching  of,  72-73, 
95-99;    auxiliary  studies,  74. 

Alabama,  scheme  used  in,  for  rating 
country  schools,  118. 

Animal  husbandry,  advance  in,  132. 

Arbor  Days,  20,  96,  135;  activ- 
ities of,  133. 

Art,  improvement  in  indoor,  139. 

Athletic  meets,  99,  137. 

Athletics,  in  barrio  school  curric- 
ulum, 71-72. 

Atkinson,  Fred  W.,  quoted,  64. 

Babies,  instruction  in  care  of,  73. 

Bacnotan,  school  building  in,  91. 

Banban,  barrio  of,  90. 

Barrios,  total  number  of,  1;  statis- 
tics of  population,  2;  occupa- 
tions in,  6;  problems  of  life, 
8-9;  general  conditions  in,  40- 
42;  vitalizing  agencies  in  life 
of,  129-140. 

Bayang,  schools  in,  93. 

Better  Babies'  Contest,  136. 

Betts,  G.  H.,  quoted,  3,  30,  49-50. 

Bird  Day,  135. 

Bonifacio,  Andres,  quoted,  85-86. 

Boys,  creed  for,  37;  gardening  by, 
131. 

Buildings,  school,  12-14,  88,  90-91. 

Cattle  raising,  statistics  of,  98. 
Cebu,  city  of,  2. 
Central  Banks,  160-162. 
Citizenship,  training  in,  34. 
Civico-educational  lectures,  136. 
Civics,  teaching  of,  69-70. 
Classes,  organization  of,  106-107; 


problem  of  overcrowded,  107- 

108. 
Community,  service  of,  to  schools, 

52. 
Consolidation  of  schools,  16-17. 
Contests, .  school,  131-132,  137. 
Cooking,  teaching  of,  20,  50,  83,  131. 
Cooperation,  essentials  of,  163. 
Corn,  score  card  for  judging,  97. 
Corn  campaigns,  96-97. 
Corn  growing,  statistics  of,  98. 
Cost  of  education,  105. 
Courses  of  study,  industrial,  82-84. 

See  Curriculum. 
Creed,  of  barrio  boy,  37;   of  barrio 

girl,  38;    for  teachers,  55-56. 
Creelman,  President,  school  creeds 

by,  36. 
Crocheting,  courses  in,  83. 
Cubberley,    E.    P.,     The    Portland 

Survey,  quoted,  63-64. 
Curriculum  in  barrio  schools,  19-20, 

58-76. 

Dean,  A.  D.,  quoted,  86. 
Decoration,  art  and,  139. 
Denmark,  schools  in,    73;    inspira- 
tion from  example  of,  129-130. 
Dewey,  John,  quoted,  43,  45, 
Distribution  of  schools,  105-106. 
Domestic  science,  courses  in,  72-73. 
Duke,  E.  A.,  quoted,  71-72. 
Dutton,  Professor,  quoted,  60. 

Education  of  barrio  children,  26-39; 

cost  of,  105. 
Elementary  curriculum,  60-61. 
Embroidery,  lessons  in,  50,  83. 
Equipment  of  barrio  schools,  15. 

Farming,    course   of   study   in,  62; 

instruction  in,  98. 
Farms,  statistics  of,  6. 
Food,  preparation  of,  73. 


173 


174 


INDEX 


Food-production  campaigns,  134- 
135. 

Formosa,  per  capita  cost  of  educa- 
tion in,  105. 
Fruit  raising,  courses  in,  74. 
Fruit-tree  growing,  96,  132-133. 
Funds  for  schools,  21-24. 

Garden  Days,  20,  95,  135. 
Gardening,   training  in  school  and 

home,  73;   activities  in,  95,  98, 

131. 
Girls,  creed  for,  38;    cooking  and 

sewing  by,  131. 
Good  citizenship,  lectures  on,  136. 
Grover,  E.  O.,  creed  by,  55-56. 

Hall,  Otis,  quoted,  49-50. 
Hat  making,  teaching  of,  92. 
Health  Day,  135. 
Hog  raising,  statistics  of,  98,  132. 
Home  projects,  99. 
Homesteads,  securing  of,  145-148. 
Horticultural  work,  96. 
Hospitality,  Filipino,  40. 
Houses  for  teachers,  53,  100-101. 
Household  arts  course  of  study,  63. 
Housekeeping,  courses  in,  63,  83. 
Hygiene  and  sanitation,  teaching  of, 
70-71. 

Illinois,  plan  used  in,  for  rating 
country  schools,  117-118. 

Imugan,  barrio  of,  94-95. 

Industrial  work,  courses  in,  72-75, 
82-84,  92-99,  131. 

Instruction  in  barrio  schools,  18-19. 

Intermediate  course  of  study,  62. 

Investing,  saving  and,  149-163. 

Java,  per  capita  cost  of  education 

in,  105. 
Joyner,  J.  Y.,  quoted,  19-20. 

Lace  making,  courses  in,  83. 
Land  Law,  provisions  of,  145-148. 
Landscape  gardening,  improvement 
in,  139. 


Lectures,     civico-educational,     99, 

136. 
Libraries,  development  of,  138. 
Literary  activities  of    schools,  137. 
Longos,  barrio  of,  94. 

Malay  States,  cost  of  education  in, 

105. 
Meyto,  barrio  of,  92. 
Mindanao  and  Sulu,  Department  of, 

101. 
Mindoro,   supervision  systematized 

in,  118-121. 
Monroe,   Paul,   quoted,  58-59;    on 

industrial    work    in   Philippine 

schools,  83. 
Musical  organizations,  137. 

Nature  study,  64-65. 

Normal  course  for  teachers,  54. 

Nurseries,  fruit-tree,  96,  133. 

Oregon,  standardizing  plan  in,  116. 
Organization     of     schools,     17-18; 

problems  of,  104-113. 
Overcrowded  classes,  107-108. 

Pangasinan,    efforts    made    in,    for 

efficiency  in  school  work,  122. 
Parents'  meetings,  137. 
Patten,  S.  N.,  quoted,  20-21,  30. 
Payne,  Dr.,  quoted,  60. 
Pennsylvania,  standardizing  scheme 

used  in,  115. 
Pensions  for  teachers,  55. 
Physical  instruction,  34. 
Physical  welfare  work,  91-92. 
Poultry  raising,  instruction  in,  74; 

figures  regarding,  98,  132. 
Prevocational  school  work,  79. 
Primary  course  of  study,  60-61,  64- 

66. 
Promotion,  problem  of,  110-111. 
Pyramidal  organization  of  schools, 

106-107. 

Reading  circles,  barrio,  138. 
Redistricting  of  provinces,  112. 


INDEX 


175 


Retardation,  problem  of,  110-111. 
Ritchie-Purcell,  Sanitation  and  Hy- 
giene far  the  Tropics,  quoted,  70. 
Rizal  Day  celebration,  135-136. 
Rural  Credit  Associations,  160-162. 

Salaries  of  teachers,  46-47. 

Sanitation  in  barrio  schools,  16,  50; 
instruction  in,  70-71;  Depart- 
ment Circular  on,  170-171. 

Saving  and  investing,  149-163. 

Schools,  improvement  of,  10-25; 
curriculum  in,  58-76;  distri- 
bution of,  105-106;  standard- 
ization of,  114-128;  adult,  138. 

School  sites,  discussion  of,  14-15, 
88-89. 

Score  card,  for  judging  corn,  97; 
for  rating  country  schools,  115. 

Seerley,   H.  H.,   quoted,   86-87. 

Sewing,  lessons  in,  50,  83,  131. 

Snedden,  David,  quoted,  60. 

Social  activities  of  schools,  137. 

Social  aspects  of  barrio  education, 
99-101. 

"Split  session"  scheme  for  classes, 
107-108. 

Standardizing  barrio  schools,  114- 
122;  proposed  requirements  for, 
122-128. 

Subjects  of  courses  of  study,  61-63. 
See  Curriculum. 

Supervision  of  schools,  17-18;  prob- 
lems connected  with,  112-113. 

Taxation  for  education,  24,  111. 
Teachers  in  barrio  schools,  40-46; 


salaries  of,  46-47;  outline  of 
duties,  48-49;  four  proposi- 
tions for  improvement  of  con- 
ditions, 52-55;  creed  for,  55-56; 
importance  of  problem  of,  100- 
101;  houses  for,  100-101;  teach- 
ing of  thrift  by,  102. 

Thrift,  instruction  in,  102;  Govern- 
ment circular  pertaining  to, 
149-163. 

Training  of  teachers,  54. 

Tree  planting,  statistics  of,  98. 


Unit  system  of  construction,  13. 
Uplift,    the    school    an    institution 
for,  42. 

Vitalizing    agencies   of   barrio   life, 

129-140. 
Vocational  education,  34-35,  77-87. 
Vocational  guidance.  General  Office 

instructions  regarding,  81-82. 

Washington,  Booker  T.,  quoted,  16. 

Weaving,    instruction    in,    66,    83. 

Welles,  W.  S.,  article  by,  on  "Use  of 
Raw  Materials  in  Teaching  Ag- 
riculture," 74-75. 

West  Virginia,  score  card  used  in, 
115. 

White,  Frank  R.,  Director  of  Ed- 
ucation, quoted,  66-67. 

Wilson,  Woodrow,  quoted,  140. 

Wood,  Thomas  D.,  on  health  of 
country  children,  71. 


Cartography  of  the  Philippine  Islands 

HODGSON'S  MAP  OF  THE  PHILIPPINE  ISLANDS. 

Compiled  by  Caspar  W.  Hodgson.    Engraved  on  stone  by 
A.  Briesemeister.    42"  X  59''.    Printed  in  six  colors. 

This  map  embodies  the  results  of  political  changes  and  explorations  made 
since  the  American  occupation,  and  is  based  on  original  sources.  In  its 
preparation,  the  maps  and  other  data  of  the  Coast  and  Geodetic  Survey,  of 
the  United  States  Navy  and  War  Departments,  and  of  the  various  bureaus 
of  the  Philippine  Government,  all  existing  Spanish  and  American  maps  of 
recognized  value,  and  sketch  maps  and  notes  of  explorers  of  the  unmapped 
portions  of  the  Islands  were  consulted.  Before  the  map  was  engraved,  blue 
prints  of  the  drawings  were  made  and  each  division  superintendent  of  schools, 
each  constabulary  ofi&cer,  and  each  district  engineer  in  the  Islands,  was  asked 
to  correct  the  details  of  the  region  with  which  he  was  familiar.  Many  other 
persons,  officers  of  the  United  States  Army,  government  officials,  and  private 
individuals  who  had  special  knowledge  of  the  httle  known  and  unmapped 
regions,  made  corrections  in  the  blue  prints.  This  is  the  most  carefully  pre- 
pared and  engraved  map  of  the  Philippines  ever  made,  and  is,  therefore,  the 
most  authoritative  map  to  be  obtained  at  the  present  time. 

Major-General  Leonard  Wood,  U.  S.  A  :  From  what  I  have  seen  of  it,  I  am 
sure  that  it  is  a  wonderfully  good  map,  and  I  appreciate  it  very  much. 

Honorable  Dean  C.  Worcester,  Secretary  of  the  Interior,  Philippine  Islands : 
The  portfolio  edition  of  your  map  is  proving  invaluable  to  me  on  my  trips. 

Bulletin  of  the  American  Geographical  Society,  New  York :  This  is  the  best 
map  that  has  been  compiled  of  the  Philippines.  .  .  .  The  map  fills  a  need 
and  will  be  necessary  to  all  persons  and  institutions  requiring  cartographic 
information  of  the  Philippines  as  we  now  know  them. 

Price  by  mail,  prepaid,  of  the  paper  edition  is  $5.40;  of  the  wall  edition, 
cloth  backed  and  mounted  on  plain  sticks,  $6  00;  of  the  portfolio  edition,  cloth 
backed  and  mounted  in  buckram  portfolio,  $7.50. 

HODGSON'S  GRAPHIC  OUTLINE  MAPS.  A  series  of 
six  maps  in  accurate  but  faint;  outline,  to  be  used  for  filling 
in  and  tracing,  in  connection  with  the  development  of  the 
various  historical,  geographical,  and  industrial  studies  of  the 
Philippine  Islands  and  adjacent  countries.  The  titles  are: 
(i)  The  World  on  Mercator's  Projection,  (2)  The  Philippine 
Islands  and  Adjacent  Coasts,  (3)  The  Philippine  Islands, 
(4)  Luzon  and  Neighboring  Islands,  (5)  The  Bisayan  Islands 
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I               A  working  handbook  of  the  National  Business  Ability  Tests.    $1.35.  i 

I      THE  RECONSTRUCTED  SCHOOL  | 

I               By  FsANas  B.  Pearson  I 

I               Discussion  of  the  real  problems  in  the  work  of  reconstruction.    $1.25.  | 

THE  TEACHING   OF  SPELLING  | 

By  Willard  F.  Tidyman  S 

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I      SELF-SURVEYS  BY  COLLEGES  AND  UNIVERSITIES 

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i        With   a  referendum   to  college   and  university  presidents.    A  practical,        | 
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I      SELF-SURVEYS  BY  TEACHER-TRAINING  SCHOOLS      I 
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I  SCHOOL    ORGANIZATION    AND    ADMINISTRATION 
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I  Based  on  the  Salt  Lake  City  survey.    There  are  47  diagrams  and  charts, 

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I  I.   Organization  and  Administration. 

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The  most  important  school   survey  made  in   1918.    Illustrated.    Cloth. 

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g        Frank  P.   Bachman.      Problems  in   Elementary  School  Administration. 
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A  curriculum  in  tunc  toitk  modern  life 

CHILD    LIFE   AND    THE 
CURRICULUM 

B;^  Junius  L.  Meriam 

Fr»f4Ssor  e/  School  Suftrvision  and  Superintendent   of  the    Univtrtitf  Schools^ 
University  of  Missouri 

The  traditional  curriculum  is  tottering  and  crumbling.  The  demand 
is  for  less  formality  and  more  vitality  in  education.  Public  schools 
must  give  more  attention  to  current  problems  in  home,  community, 
and  national  life.  The  subjects  taught  in  the  schoolroom  must  relate 
more  closely  to  the  child's  life. 

Here  is  proposed  a  really  modem  course  of  study.  The  author  states 
his  theory  in  the  light  of  more  than  a  dozen  years'  practical  experience. 
His  work  presents  a  notable  amount  of  modern  educational  practice 
that  warrants  the  critical  consideration  of  school  officials,  school 
teachers,  and  school  communities. 

His  book  gives  a  thorough  discussion  of  almost  every  problem  that  is 
likely  to  arise  in  the  conduct  of  an  elementary  school.  Ideas  of  the 
leaders  of  educational  thought  are  carefully  evaluated,  with  experience 
as  the  touchstone,  and  the  very  latest  developments  in  education  are 
ably  considered. 

Among  the  many  excellent  chapters  probably  the  most  noteworthy 
is  the  one  on  educational  tests  and  measurements.  The  author,  who 
keeps  his  feet  on  the  ground,  makes  no  attempt  to  offer  a  panacea  for 
all  the  ills  of  elementary  education;  he  does,  however,  pomt  to  relief 
and  a  way  out  of  the  beaten  path. 

Other  features  of  this  book  of  special  help  are  the  following: 

1  Statement  outline  for  each  chapter. 

2  Lists  of  supplementary  readings  and  general  references  at 
the  ends  of  chapters.  These  constitute  a  good  bibliography 
of  modern  educational  literature. 

8  Numerous  tables  of  information  relating  to  causes  of 
withdrawals,  school  subjects  and  time  assignments,  dis- 
tribution of  grades,  books  read  in  different  grades. 

4  Outlined  curriculum  of  the  University  of  Missouri  Elemen- 
tary School. 

The  author  not  only  indicates  the  possibility  of  greater  service  on  the 
part  of  the  school;  he  points  the  way  from  the  vantage  point  of  substan- 
tial achievement. 

Cloth,  xii  +  S38  pages.  Price  $3.00. 

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Studies  in  Methods  of  Teaching  in  the  College 

COLLEGE     TEACHING 

Edited  by  Paul  Klapper 


^HE 


introduction  to  this  first  book  on  this  subject  is  the 
work  of  President  Nicholas  Murray  Butler  of  Columbia 
University.  Thirty-one  leading  American  authorities  are 
the  authors  of  the  chapters  which  deal  with  every  subject  in 
the  college  curriculum.  These  were  written  on  the  same  plan, 
which  makes  the  volume  a  unified  production.  The  writers 
were  selected  for  their  scholarship,  interest  in  the  teaching 
phase  of  the  subject,  and  reputation  in  the  academic  world. 

The  book  is  divided  into  six  parts  as  follows: 

The  Introductory  Studies 

The  Sciences 

The  Social  Sciences 

The  Languages  and  Literatures 

The  Arts 

Vocational  Subjects 

A  treasure  of  wisdom  is  stored  in  the  colleges  of  America.  The 
I  teachers  in  them  are  the  custodians  of  the  knowledge.  Impar- 
I  ting  this  knowledge  is  the  function  of  these  institutions  of 
I  higher  learning.  To  do  this  most  effectively  is  the  plan  of  every 
instructor.  This  book  aims  to  make  the  college  teacher  effi- 
cient in  handing  down  this  heritage  of  knowledge,  rich  and 
vital,  that  will  develop  in  youth  the  power  of  right  thinking 
and  the  courage  of  right  living 

Dr.  Butler  writes  that  "a  careful  reading  of  the  book  is  com- 
mended not  only  to  the  great  army  of  college  teachers  and 
college  students,  but  to  that  still  greater  army  of  those  who, 
whether  as  alumni  or  parents  or  as  citizens,  are  deeply  con- 
cerned with  the  preservation  of  the  influence  and  character 
of  the  American  college  for  its  effect  upon  our  national  stan- 
dards of  thought  and  action  " 

[Cloth,    xvi +583  pages.    Price  $4.50. 

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